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CDElflRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE 

General Editor, C. H. Herfokd, Liit.D., University of Manchester 

THE SECOND PART 

OF 

HENRY THE FOURTH 



EDITED BY 

L. WINSTANLEY 

LECTURER IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF WALES 
ABERYSTWYTH 



b. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



THE AEDEN SHAKESPEARE 

A MrDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. 

Edited by Edmund K. Chambers, B.A., Oxford. 

AS YOU LIKE IT. 

Edited by J. C. Smith, M.A., Edinburgh. 

CORIOLANUS. 

Edited by Edmund K. Chambers, B. A., Oxford. 

CYIVIBELINE. 

Edited by A. J. "Wyatt, M.A., Cambridge. 
HAMLET. 

Edited by Edmund K. Chambers, B.A., Oxford. 
HENEY IV — FIRST PART. 

Edited by E. W, Moorman, B.A., Yorkshire Collega, 

HENRY V. 

Edited by G. C. Moore Smith, M.A., Cambridge. 

HENRY VIII. 

Edited by D. Nichol Smith,M.A., Edinburgh. 

JULIUS C^SAR. 

Edited by Arthur D. Innes, M.A., Oxford. 

KING JOHN. 

Edited by G. C. Moore Smith, M.A., Cambridge.) 
KING LEAR. 

Edited by D. Nichol Smith, M.A., Edinburgh. 
MACBETH. 

Edited by Edmund K. Chambers, B.A., Oxford. - 
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. 

Edited by J. C. Smith, M.A., Edinburgh. 
KICHARD 11. 

Edited by C. H. Herford, Litt.D., Cambridge. 
RICHARD IIL 

Edited by George Macdonald, M.A., Oxford. 

EOMEO AND JULIET. 

Edited by Robert A. Law, Ph.D., Harvard. 

THE MERCHANT OP VENICE. 

Edited by H. L. Withers, B.A., Oxford. 
THE TEMPEST. 

Edited by E. S. Boas, M.A., Oxford. 
THE WINTER'S TALE. 

Edited by H. B. Charlton, M.A., Manchester. 
TWELFTH NIGHT. 

Edited by Arthur D. Innes, M.A., Oxford. 

The remaining volumes are in preparation. 



CoPYEiQHT, 1918, BT D. C. Heath & COe 
lc8 



APR -8 1918 

.A492872 



GENERAL PREFACE 

k^ In this edition of Shakespeare an attempt is made 
]^ to present the greater plays of the dramatist in their 
literary aspect, and not merely as material for the study 
of philology or grammar. Criticism purely verbal and 
^ textual has only been included to such an extent as 
- may serve to help the student in the appreciation of 
^ the essential poetry. Questions of date and literary 
history have been fully dealt with in the Introductions, 
but the larger space has been devoted to the interpre- 
tative rather than the matter-of-fact order of scholar- 
ship. Esthetic judgments are never final, but the 
Editors have attempted to suggest points of view from 
which the analysis of dramatic motive and dramatic 
character may be profitably undertaken. In the Notes 
likewise, while it is hoped that all unfamiliar expressions 
and allusions have been adequately explained, yet it 
has been thought even more important to consider the 
dramatic value of each scene, and the part which it 
plays in relation to the whole. These general princi- 
ples are common to the whole series; in detail each 
Editor is alone responsible for the play or plays that 
have been intrusted to him. 

Every volume of the series has been provided with a 
Glossary, an Essay upon Metre, and an Index ; and 
Appendices have been added upon points of special 
interest which could not conveniently be treated in the 
Introduction or the Notes, The text is based by the 
several Editors on that of the Globe edition. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction v 

Dramatis Person^e xxx 

The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth 1 

Notes 125 

Glossary 168 

Index of Words 175 

General Index 177 



INTRODUCTION 

1. LITERARY HISTORY OF THE PLAY 

Shakespeare's historical plays consist of two isolated plays, 
King John and Henry VIII, — one early and one late, — and also 
a complete and connected series covering more than a century of 
time, commencing with the reign of Richard II and ending with 
the accession of Henry VII, after the battle of Bosworth Field. 
The chronological order is, of com^se, not the order of composition. 
Shakespeare seems to have begun by writing in collaboration with 
Marlowe the three parts of Henry VI; he then proceeded to 
Richard III, and only afterward to the reigns which preceded these 
— Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. 

There were good reasons for leaving the latter reigns until the 
end, for they presented to the dramatist quite special difficulties. 
The reigns of Richard II and Richard III were in themselves 
dramatic ; they each contained many striking incidents and moved 
up to an important climax. The reign of Henry IV, on the other 
hand, was occupied mainly with disconnected rebellions and plots, 
and less promising material could hardly have been presented 
to the dramatist. Shakespeare solved this difficulty with felicitous 
boldness — by inventing the whole series of scenes connected with 
Falstaff, which have in reality nothing to do with the history, and 
which were recognized even on the title pages of the published 
plays as separate themes. The very weakness of the subject thus 
proved to be its strength upon the stage, as it brought about the 
introduction of the scenes which are Shakespeare's masterpiece 
in comedy. 

The two parts of Henry IV are continuous in subject matter. 
The First Part includes the period from the end of Richard II to 
the battle of Shrewsbury, 1403. The Second Part treats of the 
remaining ten years of Henry IV's reign, ending with his illness 
and death and the coronation of Henry V. In the First Part 
Shakespeare has selected the best of the historical material afforded 
by the reign and has made the most of it, the character of Hotspur 



vi INTRODUCTION 

in particular being really impressive and interesting, though, in 
order to give it full dramatic value, Shakespeare has had to do 
considerable violence to chronology and make Hotspur appear 
much younger than he really was. Yet, even in the First Part, the 
humor of Falstaff predominates, and in the Second Part the his- 
tory loses its grip altogether and sinks entirely into the background. 

The First Part was licensed for publication on February 25, 
1598; the Second Part was licensed on August 23, 1600, by Wise 
and Aspley of the "Parrot" in St. Paul's Churchyard, the full 
title of the play being The Second Parte of the history of Kinge Henry 
the iiijth, with the humours of Sir John Falstaff, wrytten by Master 
Shakespere. This is the earliest mention of Shakespeare's name 
in the Stationers' Registers. In the same year the same firm 
published also Much Ado about Nothing. 

The Second Part, as originally printed, was not complete, and 
seems to have followed an abbreviated acting version ; most copies 
omit Act iii, sc. 1. The First Folio (1623) gives the full version. 

2. SOURCES OF THE PLOT 

Shakespeare's main sources for the historical portions of the play 
are to be found in Holinshed's Chronicle and an old play entitled 
The Famous Victories of Henry V. 

The play really covers the ten years from July, 1403, to April, 
1413, and is mainly concerned with Archbishop Scrope's rebellion 
in May and June, 1405. Shakespeare has, however, with consider- 
able art, disguised the passage of time so that the play seems to 
move continuously. Eight years must elapse between Act iv, sc. 2, 
in which the Archbishop is ordered to execution, and Act iv, sc. 4, 
in which the king is shown at the point of death. Eight years is 
a very long time to elapse between the different scenes of the same 
act; but Shakespeare purposely leaves his notes of time so vague 
that the reader does not observe the discrepancy. The interval is 
filled up with the humor of Falstaff in scene 3, which must belong 
historically to the same date as scene 2, since Falstaff is represented 
as accepting the surrender of one of the rebels — Sir John Colevile. 
This Falstaff scene is connected with the next (Act v, sc. 1) with 
apparently little passage of time. Falstaff's last words in Act iv, 
sc. 3 are: "I'll through Gloucestershire; and there will I visit 
Master Robert Shallow, esquire : I have him already tempering 
between my finger and my thumb." In Act v, sc. 1, this visit 
is described and the impression is very naturally created that 



INTRODUCTION vii 

the two are separated by only a few days; certainly no reader 
would suspect an eight years' interval. 

A somewhat similar plan, we may remark, seems to have been 
followed by Shakespeare in several of his tragedies (e.g. Macbeth). 
Indeed, Shakespeare very often seems to employ a double time- 
system, the real time being quite different from the apparent time. 
In The Winter s Tale Shakespeare is compelled by the exigencies 
of his plot to call attention to the long period of time which has 
elapsed ; but elsewhere he effectively disguises anything of the kind. 
The only definite notes of time which Shakespeare makes in the 
Second Part are inaccurate. Thus in Act iii, sc. 1, Henry calls to 
mind that Northumberland had "eight years since" been his 
trustiest friend ; that was, of course, in 1399. Thus, if we accept 
the time note, we should date the scene 1407; but, in reality, it 
occurs during Archbishop Scrope's rebellion, in the historical year 
1405. In the same scene, also, we are told that "Glendower is 
dead," though, as a matter of fact, he survived Henry IV and only 
made official submission to his successor. Holinshed is inaccurate 
in this matter; but even he says that the death occurred in 1408 
or 1409. Again, in the scene of the king's death, we are told that a 
great power of "English and of Scots" has been overthrown by 
the Sheriff of Yorkshire ; but this happened in 1408, or five years 
earlier. 

The play entitled The Famous Victories of Henry F is a very 
simple and rough Chronicle Play which gave Shakespeare hardly 
more than a few hints. Two of the characters — Ned and Sir 
John Oldcastle — appear as Poins and Falstaff, but are entirely 
re-created by Shakespeare. The highway robbery and the attack 
on the travelers in the First Part are suggested by this play. In 
the Second Part the resemblances are fess strong; they are found 
only in the death scene of Henry IV, where the Prince takes away 
the crown and afterward restores it, and in the repudiation of Fal- 
staff (i.e. the Oldcastle of the play). 

This portion may be quoted for comparison with Shakespeare : 

Ned. Gogs wounds, the king comes. 
Let all stand aside. 

Enter the King with the Archbishop and the Lord of Oxford 

Jock. How do you do, my Lord ? 

Ned. How now, Harry ? 
Tut, my Lord, put away these dumpes, 
You are a king, and all the realme is yours. 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTION 



What, man, do you not remember the old sayings, 
You know I must be Lord Chief e Justice of England ? 
Trust me, my lord, me thinks you are very much changed. 
And 'tis but with a little sorrowing, to make folks believe 
The death of your father greeves you, and 'tis nothing so. 

Hen. V. I prithee Ned, mend thy manners. 
And be more modester in thy tearmes. 
For my unfeined griefe is not to be ruled by thy flattering 
And dissembling talke ; thou saest I am changed. 
So I am indeed, and so must thou be, and that quickly, 
Or else I must cause thee to be changed. 

Jock. Gogs wounds, how like you this ? 
Sounds 'tis not so sweete as Musicke. 

Tom. I trust we have not offended your grace no way. 

Hen. V. Oh Tom, your former life greeves me, 
And makes me to abandon and abolish your company for ever. 
And therefore not upon pain of death to approch my presence 
By ten miles space ; then if I heare wel of you, . 
It may be I wil do somewhat for you. 
Otherwise looke for no more favour at my hands. 
Than at any other man's. And therefore be gone. 
We have no other matter to talke on. 



The old play moves rapidly, and immediately after this scene the 
king opens with the Archbishop of Canterbury a discussion concern- 
ing his rights to the crown of France. 

Shakespeare found some suggestions for Falstaff's boy in the 
Vintner's Boy of The Famous Victories; but he found not even a 
hint for Nym, Bardolph, and Pistol, for Dame Quickly and Doll 
Tearsheet, or for Justice Shallow and his companions. 

In fact, the more closely we compare the Second Part with its 
only known sources in Holinshed and The Famous Victories, 
the more clearly we perceive the originality of Shakespeare's work. 
It is noticeable that the Henry IV plays form part of a group 
which was famous even in Shakespeare's own day as giving more 
graphic pictures of contemporary manners than any of his other 
dramas. Henry IV, Parts I and II, Henry F, The Merry Wives of 
Windsor, and the Induction to The Taming of the Shrew deal 
frankly and almost undisguisedly with contemporary manners and 
local scenes and customs both in London and near Shakespeare's 
own native Stratford. 

The fact was that, just about the end of the century, a type of 
"local" play came greatly into vogue. Schelling^ says: "By a 

^ Elizabethan Drama. 



INTRODUCTION ix 

natural reaction plain English plays demanded plain English 
places; and Manchester, Wakefield, Windsor, and Bristol, with 
numerous other English towns, figure as the scenes of the domestic 
play. The word 'London' enters into the title of many plays. 
. . . The ' City ' was celebrated on the stage almost ward for ward 
and street for street, in plays such as A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, 
The Cripple of Fenchurch Street, The Boss of Billingsgate, The 
Lovers of Leedgate, etc." 

Shakespeare, with his usual sensitiveness to literary moods, 
seems to have gladly availed himself of the opportunity to describe 
the humors of Cheapside and of his own native countryside. 
There is no attempt whatever to give historical verisimilitude to 
the comedy scenes of Henry IV; they do not describe the manners 
of two centuries back, but emphatically those of Shakespeare's 
own day. 

3. THE CHARACTERS 

The character of Prince Hal is developed more fully and pleasingly 
in the First Part than in the Second ; in the earlier play Shakespeare 
shows him in the Falstaff scenes in his brightest and most amusing 
moods, and his rivalry with Hotspur is managed with consummate 
art, so that the interest — at first concentrated mainly on the 
brilliant Percy — is by degrees transferred to his royal rival, 
mainly because the latter is less self-conscious, more simple and 
manly, and, fundamentally, more patriotic. 

In the Second Part the character of the Prince is shown in a some- 
what less attractive light. He no longer possesses the light- 
hearted gayety of the early play and has not yet attained to the 
grave and tranquil responsibility of Henry V ; he is in the transition 
stage between the two and is therefore restless, half-hearted, and 
dissatisfied. In The Famous Victories the change of character in 
the Prince is represented as coming about most suddenly and 
naively : one moment he is the acme of wildness, the next, the 
serious illness of his father makes him repent and, almost imme- 
diately, his temperament changes. 

Shakespeare, of course, represents the alteration much more 
subtly ; even in the First Part the Prince gradually becomes more 
serious and takes a more prominent part in the affairs of the realm. 
In the Second Part we see him weighed down by an ever increasing 
sense of care and responsibility. His father's illness deeply dis- 
tresses him, partly because it makes him regret their misunder- 
standings, partly because he knows that soon he must assume the 



X INTRODUCTION 

crown. He regards the possibility of his accession with apprehen- 
sion and reluctance, though when it does come he meets it as he 
meets all other crises — with calm courage. 

In the Second Part we see the Prince much more seldom than in 
the First, and his pranks are mainly attempts to hide regret. 
The first words he utters in the Second Part (Act ii, sc. 2) are : 
"Before God, I am exceeding weary." Poins rallies him on his 
melancholy state and asks him, half ironically, if he does not regret 
his father's illness. The Prince, unable to keep up the jesting tone, 
admits that he does : "It is not meet that I should be sad, now my 
father is sick : albeit I could tell to thee, as to one it pleases me, 
for fault of a better, to call my friend, I could be sad and sad indeed 
too." Poins does not believe him and the Prince, in real anger, 
retorts that he is not "as far in the devil's book as thou and Fal- 
stafiF," and avows in all sincerity, "my heart bleeds inwardly that 
my father is so sick." 

It is obvious that he is more than half ashamed of his company. 
Throughout the Second Part we see that the Prince and Falstaff 
are drifting away from each other; they meet in only a single 
scene (the one with Doll Tearsheet) and that scene exhibits the 
most unpleasant side of Falstaff 's character — the sensuality of 
an old man. He shows to far better advantage in his relations with 
Justice Shallow, but the Prince is not at hand to see him then. 
Again, when Falstaff takes prisoner Sir John Colevile of the Dale, 
— a really amusing exploit, — it is Prince John of Lancaster with 
whom he has to deal and not Prince Hal.^ Falstaff anticipates his 
next meeting with his "sweet wag" and plans how he will make him 
laugh "without inter Valiums " over the humor of Justice Shallow; 
but he never gets the opportunity, for he sees Hal only once more 
and that is in the open street when he is repudiated forever. 

The character of Henry really owes very little to Shakespeare's 
sources. Holinshed says of him that a great change took place in 
his character on his accession, and describes him as follows : "This 
king was of a meane stature, well proportioned and formallie com- 
pact ; quicke and livelie and of a stout courage. In his latter days 
he showed himself so gentle, that he got more love amongst the 
nobles and people of this realme, than he had purchased malice 
and evill will in the beginning." 

It is generally considered that Henry V is Shakespeare's portrait 
of an ideal king, — not, perhaps, of an ideal man (the creator of 
Hamlet can hardly have thought him that), but, at any rate, by 

1 Act iv, sc. 3. 



INTRODUCTION xi 

far the most satisfactory among his English monarchs. He Is 
a man who has no great imaginative power, is not particularly 
sensitive, but is full of good will and fellowship. Is manly and 
sincere, and, above all, extraordinarily resolute and brave in 
crises. Henry's power of rising to emergencies is the most striking 
trait in his character ; just as it is the fate of the unhappy Richard II 
to fail In all crises, so it is the prerogative of Henry V in every 
danger to show himself at his best. Richard II Is far more imagina- 
tive and poetic than Henry could ever be, and Is, in many ways, 
more Interesting; but, as a king, he is a disastrous failure, while 
Henry has all the qualities — courage, knowledge of men, strength 
and steadfastness of will — which go to make the really successful 
monarch. 

It has often been remarked that Henry V possesses many of the 
characteristics of the Tudors, being like them in his courage and 
resolution, in his knowledge of human nature, and also in his 
frank and democratic attitude toward his subjects. But It Is 
possible to go farther. The character of Henry V may well have 
been intended as a compliment to Elizabeth by representing what 
she and everyone else would recognize as a kind of Ideal portrait 
of her father as she had known him In her youth. There Is nothing 
improbable in the conception, for we know that Shakespeare's 
dramas were regularly performed at court, a considerable pro- 
portion of his success being due to these special performances; 
and there is a generally accepted tradition that the Falstaff plays 
in particular were especially pleasing to the queen. 

It must be remembered that the early popularity of Henry VIII 
had been very great, that his services to the realm were intensely 
admired, and that, during the reign of his daughter, it was the 
custom to concentrate attention rather on his excellences than on 
his defects. Many compliments were paid to him on his success 
as a conqueror of France. Thus Nashe in Jack Wilton, dating his 
story, says: "About that time the terror of the world and fever 
quartan of the French, Henrle the eight (the only true subject of 
Chronicles), advanced his standard against Turney and Turwin." 
It should also be observed that Henry VIII was just such a 
contrast to Henry VII as Shakespeare's Henry V was to his father. 
The situations really are. In many respects, similar, and Shakespeare, 
in his play, has brought out all the similarities. Henry VII had, 
like Henry IV, a disputed title ; for fifteen years all kinds of revolt 
and sedition disturbed his reign ; there was a revolt In the north and 
a rising in the west. Henry VII, like Shakespeare's Henry IV, 



xii INTRODUCTION 

was a model of statecraft, patience, and labor ; he was exceedingly 
politic ; he ran the great risk of his life in his invasion of England ; 
but, after that, he left nothing to chance. "He was never betrayed 
by any passions or enthusiasm. He was untrammelled by scruples, 
unimpeded by principles, he pursued with constant fidelity the task 
of his life, to secure the throne for himself and his children, to pacify 
his country, and to repair the waste of the civil wars." ^ 

We have only to put this picture side by side with Shakespeare's 
portrait of Henry IV to see how closely the two agree. Nor are 
the resemblances any the less striking in the case of the sons. 
Henry VII also formed in the general mind a sort of background and 
contrast to the far more brilliant qualities of his successor. Henry 
VIII in his youth had many attractive qualities and was dearly 
loved by his people. No king had ever ascended the throne more 
richly endowed with physical and mental gifts, and England 
regarded him with a somewhat extravagant loyalty ; he was, more- 
over, on terms of the utmost good-fellowship with his subjects. 
" All his life," says Pollard, " he moved familiarly and almost un- 
guarded in the midst of his subjects." 

In dying, Henry VII had exhorted his son to defend the Church 
and to make war upon the infidel ; this is almost identical, as 
Shakespeare paints it, with the mission bequeathed to Henry V. 
Again, in his youth Henry VIII, like Prince Hal, had been too 
much inclined to pleasures, and his councillors occasionally com- 
plained that he cared only for amusement. 

Henry VIII had an intense antipathy to everything French. 
Even before he came to the throne he had been reported to be the 
enemy of France, and everyone speculated as to whether he would 
not be able to rival the exploits of his ancestor, Henry V. Like 
all the Tudors; Henry VIII possessed great courage. He had also 
the power of greatly inspiriting his armies. In July, 1513, when he 
joined his army in France, he proved himself a most gifted leader 
and possessed of a quite special bonhomie. " Henry rode round the 
camp at three in the morning, cheering his men with the remark, 
'Well, comrades, now that we have suffered in the beginning, 
fortune promises us better things.' " ^ 

Again, like Shakespeare's Henry V, Henry VIII in his French 
campaign sternly repressed all acts of looting and impiety. Near 
Ardes some German mercenaries pillaged a church and Henry 
promptly had three of them hanged. We also notice in Henry V 
how much stress Shakespeare lays on the capture of the noble 
1 Pollard. 2 Pollard. 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

prisoners after Agincourt, the Duke of Orleans being mentioned 
first and foremost ; so after the battle of Spurs some of the chief 
nobles of France were captured — Louis d'Orleans, Chevalier 
Bayard, and others. 

Henry VIII was generally acknowledged to be in his youth frank, 
honorable, and high-spirited : "Few could have thought that, under 
so careless and splendid an exterior — the very ideal of bluflF, 
open-hearted good-humour and frankness — there lay a watchful 
and secret eye, that marked what was going on without appearing 
to mark it, kept its own counsel till it was time to strike, and then 
struck as suddenly and remorselessly as a beast of prey. . . . He 
combined in his royal person the parts of despot and demagogue, 
and both he clothed in Tudor grace and majesty. ... He led his 
people in the way they wished to go . . . even his bitterest foes 
could scarce forbear to admire the dauntless front he presented to 
every peril. Material pride was the highest motive to which he 
appealed." ^ This portrait is certainly far more like that of Shake- 
speare's Henry V than any details concerning the historical Henry 
V which can be found either in Holinshed or in The Famous Victories. 

It is also very interesting to note what details Shakespeare uses 
from The Famous Victories and what details he omits. Thus, he 
omits the incident of the Prince striking the judge and appearing 
before his father in a dress designed in mockery. He retains the 
incident of the French king taunting Henry V with his skill in ten- 
nis, in which game it is well known that Henry VIII was proficient. 

It would, of course, be too much to say that Shakespeare intended 
an exact resemblance; but all the parallel circumstances are ex- 
plained and brought out; all the similar traits of character are 
thrown into relief, and the result would doubtless be a flattering 
image of Henry VIII as he appeared to his subjects in his youth. 
There is nothing derogatory to Shakespeare in the supposition. 
Doubtless he shared the quite common and sincere belief of the men 
of his time that the Tudors were a strong dynasty who had saved 
England from untold distresses and made her great as never before. 
Spenser, as we know, shared this belief and expressed it most fully 
and unmistakably in the Faerie Queene. A direct compliment to 
the Tudors is, of course, introduced in Henry V, where Catherine, 
their ancestress, is brought into the play. 

An additional Tudor likeness in Henry V is to be seen in his 
hardness of heart: notwithstanding all his bonhomie and his 
careless, good-humored frankness, there is no one whom he really 

1 Pollard. 



xiv INTKODUCTION 

I 

loves. Is it his father ? Scarcely ! Is it the Princess Catherine ? 
No ! for he makes it very obvious even to her that he woos her for 
her dower! Is it Falstaff? No! Falstaff loves him; but we 
have no evidence at all that the Prince reciprocates this affection in 
any way. Henry never gives his whole heart to any human being, 
and this is the real reason why we love him so much less than 
Shakespeare's other heroes, — less than Hamlet or Antony or 
Othello ; but it also makes him much more like Henry VIII. 

The real centre of the Second Part of Henry IV is to be found in 
the character of Falstaff. This has little foundation in The Famous 
Victories. For a discussion of the origin of this famous character, 
see Introduction to 1 Henry IV, pages i-viii. We might here point 
out that the early identification of Falstaff with Oldcastle explains 
a dijEculty that has exercised the minds of a large number 
of critics, i.e. the severity of Henry V's repudiation of Falstaff and 
the latter's conmiitment to prison. Many writers have lamented 
Henry's undue severity and, especially, what they consider the 
cruelty of the imprisonment. The king first promises Falstaff : 

"For competence of life I will allow you, 
That lack of means enforce you not to evil : 
And, as we hear you do reform yourselves, 
We will, according to your strengths and qualities, 
Give you advancement." (v. 4. 70-74.) 

Henry puts the matter in the hands of the Chief Justice and then, 
almost immediately afterwards, though in the brief interim Fal- 
staff has had no opportunity to afford any kind of provocation, we 
find the old man haled off to prison : "Go, carry Sir John Falstaff 
to the Fleet." (v. 4. 97.) 

This conduct, as it stands, is certainly both cruel and indefensible, 
and Henry cannot really be excused — in spite of many efforts 
to do so — by anything which occurs in the present form of the 
play. The true explanation surely lies in the fact that these cir- 
cumstances belong to the historical Oldcastle. In the first draft 
of the play the audience would, of course, be well aware of his 
identity. They knew that he was not only a boon companion, but 
also that much more serious thing — a heretic ; they knew that 
the king, on his accession, was compelled for the most serious polit- 
ical reasons to repudiate Lollardry — for reasons as serious as those 
which had led Elizabeth's government to persecute the Puritans. 
Th«y knew that, when Henry declared that Falstaff should be 
reasoned with, he was not thinking of persuading him to give 



INTRODUCTION xv 

up "sack and sugar," but to recant. They were well aware that, 
far from being unduly severe, the king was, in effect, straining 
his royal authority to the utmost to save his old friend; and 
they were also aware that, when Oldcastle was ordered off to 
prison, the incident was simply in accord with historical fact. As 
the drama stands, Henry V plays, in relation to Falstaff, the 
part of a really odious prig, something like Tennyson's Arthur in 
The Idylls of the King. So long as it pleases him to jest and be 
amused, he delights his whole heart with Falstaff's incomparable 
wit ; then, finding it necessary to take life more seriously, he repu- 
diates his old companion with cruel severity and, at the same time, 
makes himself ridiculous by telling Falstaff, whose faults are hardly 
more than those of the homme sensuel moyen, that he must not come 
within ten miles of the royal person, thus suggesting that Henry 
was exceedingly weak-willed and dared not trust himself near such 
a fascinating companion, lest he might at any moment be misled 
back to "sack and sugar." It is an action more worthy of a weak- 
fibred schoolboy than of Shakespeare's hero king, — the slayer of 
Hotspur and the conqueror of France. 

But, if we substitute the name of Oldcastle for that of Falstaff 
(as we ought in order to understand the scene), the explanation is 
obvious at once. Oldcastle was not banished because his conversa- 
tion was too fascinating, but because the charge of favoring Lol- 
lardry might have brought down the dynasty. Oldcastle was not 
imprisoned because he had spoken daringly to the king in a royal 
procession, but on the only too serious charge of heresy. Henry was 
not harshly repudiating a boon companion; he was doing his best 
to save his old friend from infuriated ecclesiastics. 

As has been pointed out, the character of Falstaff still bears many 
traces of its true origin. The popular legend which had gathered 
around Oldcastle represented him as a man of irregular life, stout 
in his person, a soldier and a gentleman who had fallen into evil 
ways, and whose friendship corrupted his prince. From these 
suggestions Shakespeare has drawn one of the most matchless 
comic characters to be found in all literature. It has been pointed 
out ^ how, running through the whole character, there is the thread 
of the perverted Puritan, " the man whose memory and perhaps 
uneasy conscience is always recalling to him the religious phraseology 
and topics of his youth. All through Falstaff's conception of his 
own character is found the assumption that he was once a profoundly 
respectable and religious character, who has been spoiled by bad 
1 Canon Ainger, Sir John Falstaff. 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

company." He, more than any other character in Shakespeare, is 
fond of quoting Scriptural phrases: "Let him be damned, like 
the glutton ! Pray God his tongue be hotter ! " (i. 2. 39-40.) When 
the Chief Justice tells him that his voice is broken with old age, 
he declares : "For my voice, I have lost it with halloing and sing- 
ing of anthems." (i. 2. 212-213.) This singing of anthems was, of 
course, as characteristic of the Puritans in Shakespeare's time as it 
was in the days of Cromwell. It is noticeable, however, that the 
Biblical allusions are much more numerous in the First Part than in 
the Second; e.g. : 

"As ragged as Lazarus in the painted cloth when the glutton's 
dogs licked his sores." ^ 

"Dost thou hear, Hal? thou knowest in the state of innocency 
Adam fell; and what should poor Jack Falstaff do in the days of 
villany ? thou seest I have more flesh than another man, and there- 
fore more frailty." ^ 

"I never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire and Dives 
that lived in purple; for there he is in his robes, burning, 
burning." ^ 

By the time he had reached the Second Part, however, Shake- 
speare was drawing more purely from the figm-e in his mind's eye 
and thinking less of his renegade Puritan. 

Much of the humor of the scenes with Poins and Prince Hal in 
the First Part consists in Falstaff's continual assumption that 
before he knew the Prince he knew nothing, and in his ingenious 
misapplication of scriptural phraseology. But this element grad- 
ually decreases ; there is no assumption of pristine virtue in the 
scenes with Justice Shallow, where Falstaff humors the Justice 
by confessing to a wild youth, and, in the famous soliloquy on the 
virtues of sack, the virtue is the most anti-Puritan glorification of 
"sherris," the epicure complete and perfect, justifying his appe- 
tites under the pretence of medical utility. 

There can, however, be little doubt that Shakespeare originally 
intended the character of Falstaff as a satire upon the Puritans. 
It is noticeable that practically all Shakespeare's satires upon the 
Puritans — the character of Malvolio in Twelfth Night, of Angelo 
in Measure for Measure, and possibly of Don John in Much Ado 
about Nothing — occur in plays written about this time, which 
was just the period of the great Puritan assault upon the theatre, 
when the City Fathers almost succeeded in suppressing the drama. 

» 1 Hmry IV, iv. 2. 27-28. 2 Ihid., iii, 3. 185-189. 

3 Ibid., iii. 3. 35-37. 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

In 1596, the City Fathers commenced a bitter compaign against 
the players. The Puritan Lord Cobham entered upon his oflSce as 
Lord Chamberlain and, in the same year, we find Nashe complain- 
ing : "The players are piteously persecuted by the Lord Mayor and 
aldermen, and however in their old Lord's (the late Lord Hunsdon's) 
time they thought their state settled, 'tis now so uncertain they 
cannot build upon it." ^ On July 28, 1597, the Privy Council, at 
the Lord Mayor's suggestion, ordered all playhouses within a 
radius of three miles to be pulled down. This order was not 
carried out; but the struggle continued for several years longer. 

In July, 1598, the vestry of St. Saviour's parish, Southwark, 
tried to suppress the playhouses on the Bankside, though without 
success. In 1600, the Lord Mayor and his colleagues were once 
more petitioning the Privy Council against the players. Very 
severe restrictions were, as a matter of fact, decreed, though they 
remained largely a dead letter; but 1601 must have been a most 
anxious year for the players, who saw their profession legally pro- 
scribed and must have felt their whole position insecure. 

If we turn now to the dates of Shakespeare's anti-Puritan come- 
dies, we find them generally accepted as follows : Twelfth Night, 
1600 or 1601, Measure for Measure, 1603 or 1604, and the First 
Part of Henry IV, probably written in 1596-1597. The date of 
production of 1 Henry IV on the stage may have been the very 
same year that Lord Cobham was appointed Lord Chancellor, and, 
when he protested against the character of Oldcastle as an annoy- 
ance to himself, it is exceedingly probable that he had just cause, 
that it was indeed so intended, and that the connection with him 
would be seen and laughed at by the audience. 

When we consider the fierceness and acrimony with which the 
controversy of Puritans versus players was usually conducted, we can 
only wonder at Shakespeare's mildness. In not one of his Puritan 
characters have we the same ferocity of attack as in Ben Jonson's 
Zeal-of-the-Land-Busy, or Tribulation Wholesome, or Ananias. 
In Shakespeare the satire is less malevolent, less circumscribed, and 
much more universal ; none the less he well portrays the characteris- 
tic faults to which the Puritan temper was liable. In Angelowe 
have the gravest of all their faults — undue severity, asceticism, 
and self-righteousness passing into lust, cruelty, and loathsome 
hypocrisy; in Malvolio we have their self-sufficiency and self- 
righteousness leading to egregious vanity; while in Falstaff's 
character there is the insinuation that the moral pretentiousness of 
* Sir Sidney Lee, Life of Shakespeare. 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

the Puritan only prepares the way for a much greater epicureanism 
and sensuality than that of the ordinary man. 

For the character of Falstaff Shakespeare may also have received 
hints from one of his contemporaries, Chettle. In Dekker's tract, 
A Knight's Conjuring, Chettle figures among the poets in Elysium : 

"In comes Chettle sweating and blowing by reason of his fat- 
ness; to welcome whom, because he was of olde acquaintance, all 
rose up and fell presently on their knees to drink a health to all 
the lovers of Helicon." 

This picture of a fat man, received with mock reverence and taken 
as a sort of Bacchic divinity, agrees very well with the character 
of Falstaff; and it has further been pointed out that Falstaff 's 
personal appearance is repeatedly described in a way that suggests 
a living original.^ 

We find also that there are other traits which tally : thus, Chettle 
certainly had a great contemporary reputation for wit ; most of his 
plays have perished, but Meres in his Palladis Tamia describes him 
as "one of our best for comedy." Again, a reference to Henslowe's 
diary shows that no one required more systematic financial relief; 
Chettle was very often in debt and not infrequently in prison for 
debt. Such a character — fat, witty, the best of boon companions, 
notoriously impecunious — may well have supplied hints for 
Falstaff. 

We know that Elizabethan dramatists did often, as in Ben 
Jonson's Poetaster, place each other upon the stage; and contem- 
porary portraits and topical allusions gave life to many a drama. 
But when we add together all the hints that Shakespeare may have 
got from the traditional character of Oldcastle and all that he may 
have got from Chettle, the fact remains that no one but himself 
could have created Falstaff from the combination. The character 
of Falstaff is one of the richest and most complex in Shakespeare, 
and we cannot but believe that a great part of its extraordinary 
fascination may be traced to the fact that the author seems to have 
made the fat knight his chief mouthpiece for one side of his own 
character. Just as we feel that in Hamlet Shakespeare has ex- 
pressed much of his own philosophy, so in Falstaff he seems to have 
expressed his own most vivid sense of humor and his overflowing 
good-natured fun. There is no character in Shakespeare who 
possesses so much humor as Falstaff ; he abounds with it on every 
possible occasion and the slightest hint is sufl&cient to set him off. 
He sees the comic side of everything — the Prince's slender figure, 

1 A. W. Ward. 



INTRODUCTION xix 

Bardolph's fiery face, the name of Bullcalf. No incident is too 
trivial to serve him as matter for fun ; and it is a main part of his 
extraordinary fascination that we feel it would be impossible ever 
to be fatigued or bored in his company. He is as witty as Benedick 
or Mercutio, but he notices many kinds of things which they would 
have thought beneath them ; nor is his humor only on the surface, 
or of the cut-and-thrust rapier style. Falstaff is also a most 
shrewd and penetrating student of human nature. He is as much 
interested in mankind as Hamlet himself; he analyzes human 
beings as skilfully and sees to the heart of them as profoundly. 
But whereas Hamlet is an idealist and is always contrasting men, 
ironically and tragically, with his own superb vision of what human 
nature ought to be, Falstaff, in his studies, has no such sad purpose. 
There is for him no eternal and tragic contrast between the thing 
as it is and the thing as it might have been ; on the contrary, it is 
just this opposition which for him makes the essence of the fun. 
He studies men, partly for the delight of his own humorous analysis, 
partly because he wants to make his profit out of their failings, 
but chiefly, it would seem, for the sake of storing up material to 
make the Prince laugh "without intervallums." He always says 
the last word on a character and can sum up a man in a single tell- 
ing phrase, as when he says of the boastful coward. Pistol, "he'll 
not swagger with a Barbary hen, if her feathers turn back in any 
show of resistance" ; or when he remarks of Prince John, "a man 
cannot make him laugh" ; or when he notes what he calls the "sem- 
blable coherence" in the household of Justice Shallow, how his 
men " by observing of him, do bear themselves like foolish justices."^ 
He understands to the full the fantastic vanity which makes Shallow 
desire to have been thought a rake in his youth. 

It is this profound, shrewd analysis which gives so much depth to 
the humor of Falstaff. Moreover, his interest in character is 
universal. He is proud of understanding princes; he has been 
friendly with John of Gaunt and still recalls with pleasure how 
they jested together; he is immensely proud of being on terms of 
equal intimacy with Prince Hal ; yet he sees all the comedy of such 
ruffians as Pistol and Bardolph and of such clumsy yokels as Bull- 
calf and Feeble. It is with a similar impartial breadth of observa- 
tion that Hamlet analyzes the king and Osric, Polonius, the players, 
and the gravediggers. 

Yet, again, Falstaff shows his wonderful candor in the frankness 
with which he regards himself. His own fatness amuses him quite 

1 V. 1. 74-76. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

as much as it can possibly amuse his friends : "I am not only witty 
in myself; but the cause that wit is in other men. I do here walk 
before thee like a sow that hath overwhelmed all her litter but 
one."^ He fully enjoys the ridiculous contrast between himself 
and his tiny page, and declares : " If the prince put thee into my 
service for any other reason than to set me off, why then I have no 
judgement . . . thou art fitter to be worn in my cap than to wait 
at my heels ... I will inset you . . . and send you back again 
to your master, for a jewel." 2 

Falstaff knows his own faults thoroughly and does not attempt 
to hide them, which would be absurd, nor to defend them, which 
would be hypocritical ; he is clever enough to know that the only 
thing that can be done with such failings is to confess them frankly 
and turn them into ridicule: "I can get no remedy against this 
consumption of the purse : borrowing only lingers and lingers it 
out, but the disease is incurable." ^ He does not deny that he is 
a drunkard ; but he defends sherris sack with reasons he knows to 
be magnificently absurd. Topers have been known to use similar 
arguments in all seriousness ; but Falstaff is ridiculing their excuses 
and his own. In this respect, we see again the contrast between 
Falstaff and Hamlet, who knows all his own faults so well and re- 
grets them so deeply. 

If this power of keen, clear-sighted analysis, both of himself 
and of others, adds depth to the character of Falstaff, so again 
depth is added by his education and his knowledge. Shakespeare's 
original — Oldcastle — was, of course, a man of culture and 
attainments, and the poet was justified in representing Falstaff 
as being the same. We have seen that he is fond of scriptural 
allusions, brought in with exquisitely managed misappropriate- 
ness. He is also fond of classical allusions : he commences a 
letter to the Prince by saying, "I will imitate the honourable 
Romans in brevity"; and, when he has overcome Sir John Cole-« 
vile, he declares : "he saw me and yielded; that I may justly say 
with the hook-nosed fellow of Rome, ' I came, saw and overcame.' " 

Here again he forms the comic contrast to the tragic seriousness 
of Hamlet, who also was fond of alluding to Caesar — but in how 
different a spirit ! 

"Imperial Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay, 
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." * 

» i. 2. 11-14. 2 i. 2. 14-22. 3 i. 2. 4-6. 

i Hamlet, X. 1. 238-239. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

Falstaff's summary of the eflFect of "sherris" on the human body 
reveals his acquaintance with the anatomy and physiology of the 
time; and his analysis of honor is a satire on the principles of 
casuistry.^ He ridicules the subtleties of schoolmen and Jesuits; 
you can prove anything to be anything by his methods and he knows 
you can. Falstaff's well-stored mind often enables him to escape 
from the most difficult position by a happy thought; thus, when 
all his other shifts are exposed, he suddenly recollects that "the 
lion will not touch the true prince" and that therefore he was "a 
coward on instinct." Of course he sees the absurdity of this strange 
natural history; but that, again, is part of the joke.^ 

Another characteristic of Falstaff's humor is its good temper. In 
most wit there is the spice of malice. The courtly Benedick and 
Beatrice "talk daggers" and often wound each other; but Falstaff's 
wit is as wholly devoid of malice as Rosalind's ; he might say with 
her that "it would not hurt a fly." With his unrivalled keenness of 
analysis he must have possessed equally unrivalled powers of wound- 
ing people; but he never uses them; and it is not policy which 
keeps him from malice, but sheer good temper. In precisely the 
same way as he sees and pardons his own faults because of their 
humorous aspects, he sees and pardons the faults of others. It is 
perhaps the main reason why we are so indulgent to him — because 
he himself is indulgent to everyone else. There is not in him the 
remotest likeness to those Pharisees who 

" Compound for sins they are inclined to 
By damning those they have no mind to.". 

When he is chuckling over the inventions of Justice Shallow, he 
says, "Lord ! Lord ! How subject we old men are to this vice of 
lying." It is true that he teases Bardolph concerning his fiery 
face and the boy for his minuteness ; but then, as he does not mind 
laughter at his own personal appearance, he cannot quite see why 
anyone else should object. 

It should be noticed how often Falstaff's superiority in the play 
is due to the fact that he can face the truth about himself while 
no one else is able to do so. For instance, when he calls Doll 
Tearsheet "this light flesh and corrupt blood," she breaks out into 
instant anger, although she knows the accusation is true. Nor does 
Falstaff reveal any malice against those who rebuke him, such as 
the Chief Justice and Prince John. By his imperturbable good 

1 1 Henry IV, v. 1. 131-144. » 1 Henry IV, ii. 4. 300-301. 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

humor he almost wins over the Chief Justice ; and although Prince 
John is too young and too crude to be fascinated, Falstaff only 
pities him for his defective sense of humor, which is, as he justly 
perceives, one of the greatest of human misfortunes. 

It is also noticeable that Falstaff does no real damage to anyone ; 
cruelty is no part of his nature and his worst depredations win pardon 
because, like those of Robin Hood, they are effected upon people 
who really deserve them. Falstaff sponges on the hostess, tricks 
her out of money, and persuades her to pawn her plate; but is it 
really possible to sympathize very deeply with the good, compla- 
cent woman who is hostess to Doll Tearsheet ? Falstaff inveigles 
Justice Shallow out of a thousand pounds; but is it possible to 
feel much sympathy for a person so full of mean miserliness? 
Does he not deserve to lose his money for stopping William's wages 
in order to pay for the sack lost at Hinckley Fair, and for countless 
other mean things we know he must have done? There is poetic 
justice in the thought that, after years and years of such cheese- 
paring, it is all snatched from him in one fell swoop by Falstaff. 

It must be observed, too, that Falstaff is no coward. In a long 
and able essay an eighteenth-century critic, Maurice Morgann, has 
argued the point and has shown that Falstaff lacks the chief char- 
acteristic of the coward — genuine fright. On the contrary, 
under the most difficult circumstances he invariably retains his 
presence of mind. He does not wish to be killed by Douglas, so 
he hides ; but he is quite calm enough to jest about the matter. 
He has led his vassals where they are so "well-peppered" that there 
are hardly any of them left alive. It is noticeable, also, that he 
really has a reputation for courage, for he certainly is in demand as 
a soldier: 

"There is not a dangerous action can peep out his head but I 
am thrust upon it : well, I cannot last ever : but it was alway yet 
the trick of our English nation, if they have a good thing, to make 
it too common. If ye will needs say I am an old man, you should 
give me rest. I would to God my name were not so terrible to the 
enemy as it is." ^ This is a humorous exaggeration, of course, but 
it has its element of truth; and it is noteworthy that Sir John 
Colevile yields to the great reputation of Falstaff as he certainly 
would not yield to that of an unknown person. There is no hint 
that Sir John Colevile is meant to be a coward of the Pistol type ; 
he seems to be a genuinely valiant gentleman. Prince John calls 
him "a famous rebel," and yet he says : "I think you are Sir John 

1 i. 2. 238-245. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

Falstaff and in that thought yield me." ^ A man of valor would 
not yield at the mere reputation of Falstaff, were the latter really a 
coward. Throughout the two plays Falstaff acts on the assumption 
that everyone will accept him as a man of reasonable courage, and 
practically everyone does. Even his boon companions cannot 
presume too far, for, when Pistol becomes really impertinent, 
Falstaff soon puts an end to it. "Give me my rapier, boy," he 
demands of the page, and Pistol is immediately expelled down- 
stairs. Doll tells Falstaff that he is as valorous as Hector of Troy 
and worth five of Agamemnon; and one thing is certain that, as 
soon as he chooses to exert himself, he is the acknowledged master. 

But we cannot help thinking that most critics are inclined to 
take Falstaff's vices more seriously than his creator intended. It 
is the scene of Henry V's public repudiation which has done so 
much damage to Falstaff's character in the eyes of posterity ; but in 
Shakespeare's original, as has been said, the repudiation was largely 
for heresy, which really alters the whole moral aspect of the matter. 
In the original version the fun lay in representing a leading Puritan 
as an arch-epicure, in making Oldcastle satirize every single one 
of the Puritan doctrines in his own person and be the exact opposite 
of everything a Puritan was supposed to be; and if we remember 
that his descendant was, at that very moment, engaged in Puritani- 
cally trying to suppress the theatre, the fun becomes uproarious. 

Grouped around Falstaff are his amusing lieutenants. Here 
Shakespeare shows a temporary concession to the "comedy of 
humours " which had just become popular about this time (1598- 
1600), and of which Ben Jonson was the chief exponent. Pistol, 
Bardolph, the Hostess, Doll Tearsheet, Justice Shallow, and Silence 
are all examples of these "humours." Pistol, particularly, is a 
full-blown specimen ; he is what Falstaff is not, — a real coward, — 
and, though his swagger and bluster can deceive for a time, he can 
be "put down" by anyone who takes the trouble, — by Falstaff, 
by Fluellen, even by Doll Tearsheet, who soon gets the better of 
him in a scolding match. In his swagger and his arrogance and 
his pitiable surrenders. Pistol resembles the coward of all ages and 
times ; but he is marked of the sixteenth century by his peculiar 
playhouse rant. He is Shakespeare's humorous study of the effect 
of Elizabethan tragedy upon the "groundlings." His conversation 
is made up of tags of plays imperfectly remembered. Even in his 
quarrels with Doll, he quotes the most deeply serious of tragedies, 
and involves Pluto and Erebus. Incidentally, we may observe, 

1 iv. 3. 18-19. 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

Pistol exhibits Shakespeare's laughter at his own early preferences. 
There certainly was a time when the dramatist had an intense 
admiration for Marlowe; but there was a side of Marlowe which 
irresistibly appealed to Shakespeare's sense of humor, and it is in 
Pistol that we have proof of this ; the famous and absurd scene in 
which Tamburlaine compels a "yoke of kings" to draw his chariot 
is parodied in : 

" Shall pack-horses 
And hollow pamper' d jades of Asia, 
Which cannot go but thirty mile a-day, 
Compare with Caesars, and with Cannibals, 
And Trojan Greeks ? " (ii. 4, 177-181.) 

He addresses the Hostess as if she were a romantic heroine ! 
" Then feed and be fat, my fair Calipolis," ^ has all the stage love 
of elaborate courtesies and furious rages. "Sweet knight, I kiss 
thy neif," he says to Falstaff, and, a moment later, is drawing his 
dagger and threatening murder. 

Another weakness of the Elizabethan stage which Shakespeare 
exposes through Pistol is the bombast which made many writers 
seem almost unable to employ simple words. " What ! shall we 
have incision ? shall we imbrue ? " ^ There is also the satire on the 
abuse of alliteration, another trait of the extravagant Elizabethan 
play: 

"abridge my doleful days! 
Why, then, let grievous, ghastly, gaping wounds 
Untwine the Sisters Three." (ii. 4. 11-13.) 

Mrs. Quickly and Doll Tearsheet are perhaps even more masterly 
as character studies because less extreme. Mrs. Quickly has, how- 
ever, the marks of a character of "humours" ; she is strongly dis- 
tinguished by certain tricks both of thought and of speech; her 
forte is her curious habit of repetition and her fantastic habit of 
employing words in wrong senses. She is the precursor of Mrs. 
Malaprop and all the other amusing misappliers of language; she 
forms a sort of feminine counterpart to Dogberry, whom also 
Shakespeare created about the same time. But Mrs. Quickly is 
more than this : she is a finished study of the London hostess of the 
less particular type. She is sufficiently well-to-do to possess hang- 
ings of genuine arras, and silver plate, for we can hardly take 
Falstaff's word for it that her plate — which had been pawned for 
him and which he was therefore naturally anxious to disparage — 
1 ii. 4. 193. 2 ii. 4. 210. 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

was only "parcel-gilt." She is keenly alive to the triumph it 
would be to possess Falstaff's hand and to be "my lady thy wife." 
She is immensely complimented when he tells her that she must 
hold herself aloof and no longer be on familiar terms with her poor 
neighbors, who shall, ere long, call her "madam." But Mrs. 
Quickly is complacent enough to receive Doll Tearsheet and to 
treat her as an intimate friend. 

There is a certain diflSculty over the curious doubling of the 
character which occurs in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Is the 
Mrs. Quickly of that play to be considered as the same person 
or is she not ? On the one hand, there is the fact that she is 
installed in Windsor and not in Eastcheap ; and also her position 
is different. Sir Hugh Evans says that she dwells in the house of 
Doctor Caiws and is "in the manner of his nurse or his dry nurse, 
or his cook, or his laundry, his washer, and his wringer."^ On 
the other hand, she has the same tricks of speech ; she indulges 
in long desultory conversations over all the details of life; she 
perverts language in exactly the same way: "but, I detest, as 
honest a maid as ever broke bread" ; or "she is given too much to 
allicholy and musing"; or "you have brought her into such a 
canaries as 'tis wonderful." 

Like the Mrs. Quickly of Henry IV, she has, also, a most accom- 
modating morality and is quite ready to help Falstaff in his in- 
trigues with Mrs. Ford. She has also the same innate conviction 
that she is an honest woman. In Henry IV she makes a great 
outcry to the Lord Chief Justice when Falstaff accuses her, and in 
The Merry Wives she advises Falstaff not to let the true nature of 
the message to Mrs. Ford be known to the tiny page : "for 'tis not 
good that children should know any wickedness." In both plays, 
indeed, she is the perfect type of the accommodating woman who 
likes to think herself respectable. In The Merry Wives she has 
certainly the better reputation, for it is difficult to think of the 
Mrs. Quickly of Henry IV being accepted as the trusted confidant 
of Anne Page. The conclusion is that both Mrs. Quickly and Fal- 
staff apparently are meant to be the same personages throughout, 
but that, writing The Merry Wives in haste, Shakespeare neglected 
to make the characters thoroughly consistent. If there are dis- 
crepancies in the character of Mrs. Quickly, they are, after all, 
nothing as compared with the many discrepancies in the character 
of Falstaff, who, matchless in Henry IV, becomes himself a butt 
in The Merry Wives. 

1 Merry Wives, i. 2, 3-5. 



xxvi INTEODUCTION 

'•' If there is any chronology in such matters. The Merry Wives 
may be placed in some period of Falstaff 's life anterior to Henry IV, 
or, at least, anterior to the closing scenes of that play ; for, whatever 
else is wrong with FalstaflF, he is certainly not suffering from the 
"fracted and corroborate" heart which we know, on the authority 
of Pistol, afflicted him after his repudiation by Henry V. 

It is noteworthy that Mrs. Quickly's progress in life is a melan- 
choly one. Having failed in achieving the hand of Falstaff, she 
marries Pistol — a great declension — and the last we hear of her 
is in the words of her husband : 

"News have I, that my Nell is dead i' the spital 
Of malady of France, 
And there my rendezvous is quite cut off." ^ 

With all his tolerance for human frailty, with all his immense 
kindness of heart, Shakespeare shows unmistakably the end of 
complaisance. 

Another admirable study is the character of Doll Tearsheet. She 
too is treated indulgently; there is nothing of the vast ironic 
bitterness which depicts Mrs. Overdone in Measure for Measure. 
Doll has her dignity, such as it is, and will not permit Pistol to 
insult her or even Falstaff to treat her too lightly. Like all the 
rest who associate with him, — Prince John alone excepted, — she 
feels the fascination of Falstaff; when he has to go away to the 
wars she weeps, with absolute sincerity, real tears; Pistol also 
pronounces the final epithet upon her when he tells us that she has 
paid the usual penalty of her trade. 

The scenes with Justice Shallow take us into a new and very de- 
lightful atmosphere, dealing with Shakespeare's own neighborhood. 
A very early tradition identifies Justice Shallow with Sir Thomas 
Lucy of Charlecote Manor, the largest landowner in the neighbor- 
hood of Stratford. According to Shakespeare's earliest biographer, 
Rowe (1709), the poet was compelled to leave Stratford because he 
got into difficulties with Sir Thomas Lucy over a poaching affray. 
Howe's account runs as follows : 

"He had, by a misfortune common enough to young fellows, 
fallen into ill company; and, amongst them, some that made a 
frequent practice of deer-stealing, engaged him with them more than 
once in robbing a park that belonged to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charle- 
cote near Stratford. For this he was prosecuted by that gentleman, 
as he thought, somewhat too severely ; and, in order to revenge that 

1 Henry F, v. 1. 85-87. 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

ill-usage, he made a ballad upon him, and though this, probably 
the first essay of his poetry, be lost, yet it is said to have been so 
very bitter that it redoubled the prosecution against him to that 
degree that he was obliged to leave his business and family in 
Warwickshire for some time and shelter himself in London." , 

There is also the independent testimony of Archdeacon Richard 
Davies, vicar of Sapperton, Gloucestershire, in the late seventeenth 
century, to the effect that Shakespeare stole venison and rabbits, 
particularly from Sir Thomas Lucy, who had him whipped and im- 
prisoned and finally compelled him to fly from Stratford. Arch- 
deacon Davies adds that Shakespeare's revenge was so great that 
he caricatured Lucy as "Justice Clodpate." There can be little 
doubt that this story has a real foundation of fact, for there are 
several allusions which make practically certain the identity of 
Justice Shallow with Lucy. 

In The Merry Wives Justice Shallow is represented as having come 
from Gloucestershire to Windsor to make a Star-Chamber matter of 
a poaching raid on his estate. The historic Sir Thomas Lucy was 
well known for his Parliamentary activities in connection with 
game, and in one year (1584) he was intrusted with a bill for "The 
Preservation of Grain and Game." But the identification is made 
certain by two passages, — one in the opening scene of The Merry 
Wives, where Shakespeare makes Sir Hugh Evans mock at Lucy's 
coat-of-arms : "The dozen white louses do become an old coat 
well" ; and the other the passage in the present text where Justice 
Shallow is described as "the old pike," Shakespeare thus making 
a pun on the generally accepted meaning of the name "Lucy." 
There can be little doubt that the deer-stealing episode, whatever 
its exact nature may have been, is recollected in Justice Shallow's 
quarrel with Falstaff : 

"Knight! you have beaten my men, killed my deer and broken 
down my lodge," to which Falstaff replies with the characteristically 
impudent, "But not kissed your keeper's daughter." 

Falstaff, with his inimitable effrontery, presents some of the veni- 
son to the page, who thanks Shallow for it, provoking the latter 
to remark: "It was ill-killed." 

Sir Thomas Lucy was certainly a Justice of the Peace and was 
very active indeed in that capacity. The humor of the situation is 
very greatly increased when we learn that he was also considered a 
Puritan, and had been very active in hunting down recusants. 
Thus Shakespeare's portrait of him would be another of the Puritan 
satires in which the plays of this period abound. 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

Objections have been raised to this interpretation on two grounds, 
one that the Charlecote deer park was of later date than the six- 
teenth century, and the other that Justice Shallow is by no means 
an exact portrait of Lucy, since the latter had a wife and family, 
while Justice Shallow is depicted as a bachelor, is not a knight, 
and has no title. ^ It may, however, be pointed out in answer 
that Lucy was certainly a game-preserver and that, if he did not 
own what was technically termed a deer park, he certainly owned 
a warren where deer might well be kept. 

Again, it is quite true that Shakespeare does not represent him 
as a knight ; but it would have been most impolitic to present a 
portrait too absolutely exact, so that Lucy could indeed have made 
a "Star-Chamber" matter of it. Shakespeare had already got 
himself into trouble over the first part of Henry IV, and a detailed 
portrait of Lucy might well have got him into trouble over the second 
part also ; such prosecutions were really quite common. The por- 
trait was sufficient for everyone to know who was intended; but 
it was not sufficiently detailed to impel Lucy to take action. The 
portrait is not a bitter one, because it accuses Lucy of no real crimes ; 
but it is a masterly piece of mischief -making. 

When we remember that Lucy was a Puritan, we see still more 
force in his boasting to FalstaflP of his youthful riots. Posing 
outwardly as the immaculate country gentleman, he had "gone the 
pace" in youth, and, in his heart, cherished it as his proudest 
memory, though even then — according to Falstaff 's standards — 
he had only succeeded in making himself supremely absurd. 

1 Mrs. Stopes' Shakespeare's Warwickshire Contemporaries. 



THE SECOND PART 



OF 



HENRY THE FOURTH 



DRAMATIS PERSONS 

Rumour The Presenter 

King Henry the Fourth 
Henry, Prince of Wales 
Afterwards King Henry V 

Thomas, Duke of Clarence J- His sons 

Prince John of Lancaster 
Prince Humphrey of Gloucester _ 
Earl of Warwick 
Earl of Westmoreland 
Earl of Surrey 

GOWER 

Harcourt 

Blunt 

Lord Chief-Justice of the King's Bench 

A Servant of the Chief-Justice 

Earl of Northumberland 

Scroop Archbishop of York 

Lord Mowbray 

Lord Hastings v 

Lord Bardolph 

Sir John Colevile 

Travers and Morton .... Retainers of Northumberland 

Sir John Falstaff 

His Page 

Bardolph 

Pistol 

POINS 

Peto 

ShallowI Country Justices 

Silence J 

Davy Servant to Shallow 

Mouldy, Shadow, Wart, Feeble and Bullcalf. . Recruits 

Fang and Snare Sheriff's oflficers 

Lady Northumberland 

Lady Percy 

Mistress Quickly .... Hostess of a tavern in Eastcheap 

Doll Tearsheet 

Lords and Attendants ; Porter, Drawers, Beadles, Grooms, etc. 
A Dancer, speaker of the Epilogue 

SCENE — England 



The Second Part of 
King Henry the Fourth 

INDUCTION 

Warkwortk. Before the castle 

Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues 

Rum. Open your ears ; for which of you will stop 
The vent of hearing when loud Rumour speaks? 
I, from the orient to the drooping west, 
Making the wind my post-horse, still unfold 
The acts commenced on this ball of earth : 
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride, 
The which in every language I pronounce. 
Stuffing the ears of men with false reports. 
I speak of peace, while covert enmity 
Under the smile of safety wounds the world : lo 

And who but Rumour, who but only I, 
Make fearful musters and prepared defence. 
Whiles the big year, swoln with some other grief. 
Is thought with child by the stern tyrant war, 
And no such matter ? Rumour is a pipe 
Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures. 
And of so easy and so plain a stop 
That the blunt monster with uncounted heads. 
The still-discordant wavering multitude. 
Can play upon it. But what need I thus 20 

My well-known body to anatomize 

1 



^ KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

Among my household ? Why is Rumour here ? 

I run before King Harry's victory ; 

Who in a bloody field by Shrewsbury 

Hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops, 

Quenching the flame of bold rebellion 

Even with the rebels' blood. But what mean I 

To speak so true at first ? my office is 

To noise about that Harry Monmouth fell 

30 Under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword, 
And that the king before the Douglas' rage 
Stoop'd his anointed head as low as death. 
This have I rumour'd through the peasant towns 
Between that royal field of Shrewsbury 
And this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone. 
Where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland, 
Lies crafty-sick : the posts come tiring on, 
And not a man of them brings other news 
Than they have learn'd of me: from Rumour's 
tongues 

40 They bring smooth comforts false, worse than 
true wrongs. [Exit. 



ACT I 

Scene I — The same 

Enter Lord Bardolph 

L. Bard. Who keeps the gate here, ho ? 

The Porter opens the gate 

Where is the earl ? 
Port, What shall I say you are ? 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 3 

L. Bard. Tell thou the earl 

That the Lord Bardolph doth attend him here. 

Port. His lordship is walk'd forth into the 
orchard : 
Please it your honour, knock but at the gate. 
And he himself will answer. 

Enter Northumberland 

L. Bard. Here comes the earl. 

[Exit Porter. 

North. What news, Lord Bardolph? every 
minute now 
Should be the father of some stratagem : 
The times are wild ; contention, like a horse 
Full of high feeding, madly hath broke loose lo 

And bears down all before him. 

L. Bard. Noble earl, 

I bring you certain news from Shrewsbury. 

North. Good, an God will ! 

L. Bard. As good as heart can wish : 

The king is almost wounded to the death ; 
And, in the fortune of my lord your son. 
Prince Harry slain outright ; and both the Blunts 
Kill'd by the hand of Douglas; young Prince 

John 
And Westmoreland and Stafford fled the field ; 
And Harry Monmouth's brawn, the hulk Sir 

John, 
Is prisoner to your son : O, such a day, 20 

So fought, so foUow'd and so fairly won. 
Came not till now to dignify the times. 
Since Caesar's fortunes ! 



4 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

North. How is this derived ? 

Saw you the field ? came you from Shrewsbury ? 
L. Bard. I spake with one, my lord, that 
came from thence, 
A gentleman well bred and of good name, 
That freely rendered me these news for true. 

North. Here comes my servant Travers, whom 
I sent 
On Tuesday last to listen after news. 

Enter Travers 

30 L. Bard. My lord, I over-rode him on the way ; 
And he is furnished with no certainties 
More than he haply may retail from me. 

North. Now, Travers, what good tidings comes 

with you ? 
Tra. My lord, Sir John Umfrevile turn'd me 
back 
With joyful tidings ; and, being better horsed. 
Out-rode me. After him came spurring hard 
A gentleman, almost forspent with speed. 
That stopp'd by me to breathe his bloodied horse. 
He ask'd the way to Chester ; and of him 

40 1 did demand what news from Shrewsbury : 
He told me that rebellion had bad luck 
And that young Harry Percy's spur was cold. 
With that, he gave his able horse the head. 
And bending forward struck his armed heels 
Against the panting sides of his poor jade 
Up to the rowel-head, and starting so 
He seem'd in running to devour the way, 
Staying no longer question. 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 5 

North. Ha ! Again : 

Said he young Harry Percy's spur was cold ? 
Of Hotspur Coldspur ? that rebelhon 50 

Had met ill luck ? 

L. Bard. My lord, I '11 tell you what; 

If my young lord your son have not the day. 
Upon mine honour, for a silken point 
I '11 give my barony : never talk of it. 

North. Why should that gentleman that rode 
by Travers 
Give then such instances of loss ? 

L.Bard. Who, he? 

He was some hilding fellow that had stolen 
The horse he rode on, and, upon my life. 
Spoke at a venture. Look, here comes more news. 

Enter Morton 

North. Yea, this man's brow, like to a title-leaf, eo 
Foretells the nature of a tragic volume : 
So looks the strand whereon the imperious flood 
Hath left a witness'd usurpation. 
Say, Morton, didst thou come from Shrewsbury ? 

Mor. I ran from Shrewsbury, my noble lord; 
Where hateful death put on his ugliest mask 
To fright our party. 

North. How doth my son and brother ? 

Thou tremblest ; and the whiteness in thy cheek 
Is apter than thy tongue to tell thy errand. 
Even such a man, so faint, so spiritless, 70 

So dull, so dead in look, so woe-begone. 
Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night. 
And would have told him half his Troy was burnt ; 



6 KING HENRY THE Ji'OUIlTH [Act One 

But Priam found the fire ere he his tongue. 
And I my Percy's death ere thou report'st it. 
This thou wouldst say, "Your son did thus and 

thus; 
Your brother thus : so fought the noble Douglas " : 
Stopping my greedy ear with their bold deeds : 
But in the end, to stop my ear indeed, 
80 Thou hast a sigh to blow away this praise. 
Ending with "Brother, son, and all are dead." 
Mor. Douglas is living, and your brother, 
yet; 
But, for my lord your son, — 

North. Why, he is dead. 

See what a ready tongue suspicion hath ! 
He that but fears the thing he would not know 
Hath by instinct knowledge from others' eyes 
That what he fear'd is chanced. Yet speak, 

Morton ; 
Tell thou an earl his divination lies^ 
And I will take it as a sweet disgrace 
90 And make thee rich for doing me such wrong. 
Mor. You are too great to be by me gainsaid : 
Your spirit is too true, your fears too certain. 
North. Yet, for all this, say not that Percy's 
dead. 
I see a strange confession in thine eye : 
Thou shakest thy head and hold'st it fear or sin 
To speak a truth. If he be slain, say so ; 
The tongue offends not that reports his death : 
And he doth sin that doth belie the dead, 
Not he which says the dead is not alive. 
100 Yet the first bringer of unwelcome news 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 7 

Hath but a losing office, and his tongue 
Sounds ever after as a sullen bell, 
Remember'd tolling a departing friend. 

L, Bard. I cannot think, my lord, your son is 

dead. 
Mor. I am sorry I should force you to believe 
That which I would to God I had not seen ; 
But these mine eyes saw him in bloody state. 
Rendering faint quittance, wearied and out- 
breathed. 
To Harry Monmouth; whose swift wrath beat 

down 
The never-daunted Percy to the earth, no 

From whence with life he never more sprung up. 
In few, his death, whose spirit lent a fire 
Even to the dullest peasant in his camp. 
Being bruited once, took fire and heat away 
From the best-temper'd courage in his troops ; 
For from his metal was his party steel'd ; 
Which once in him abated, all the rest 
Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead : 
And as the thing that's heavy in itself. 
Upon enforcement flies with greatest speed, 120 

So did our men, heavy in Hotspur's loss. 
Lend to this weight such lightness with their 

fear 
That arrows fled not swifter toward their aim 
Than did our soldiers, aiming at their safety. 
Fly from the field. Then was that noble Worces- 
ter 
Too soon ta'en prisoner ; and that furious Scot, 
The bloody Douglas, whose well-labouring sword 



8 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

Had three times slain the appearance of the king, 
'Gan vail his stomach and did grace the shame 
130 Of those that turned their backs, and in his flight, 
Stumbling in fear, was took. The sum of all 
Is that the king hath won, and hath sent out 
A speedy power to encounter you, my lord 
Under the conduct of young Lancaster 
And Westmoreland. This is the news at full. 
North. For this I shall have time enough to 

mourn. 
In poison there is physic ; and these news. 
Having been well, that would have made me sick, 
Being sick, have in some measure made me well : 
140 And as the wretch, whose fever- weaken'd joints. 
Like strengthless hinges, buckle under life. 
Impatient of his fit, breaks like a fire 
Out of his keeper's arms, even so my limbs, 
Weaken'd with grief, being now enraged with 

grief. 
Are thrice themselves. Hence, therefore, thou 

nice crutch ! 
A scaly gauntlet now with joints of steel 
Must glove this hand : and hence, thou sickly 

quoif ! 
Thou art a guard too wanton for the head 
Which princes, flesh'd with conquest, aim to hit. 
150 Now bind my brows with iron ; and approach 
The ragged'st hour that time and spite dare bring 
To frown upon the enraged Northumberland ! 
Let heaven kiss earth ! now let not Nature's 

hand 
Keep the wild flood confined ! let order die ! 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 9 

And let this world no longer be a stage 

To feed contention in a lingering act ; 

But let one spirit of the first-born Cain 

Reign in all bosoms, that, each heart being set 

On bloody courses, the rude scene may end, 

And darkness be the burier of the dead ! 160 

Tra. This strained passion doth you wrong, 
my lord. 

L. Bard. Sweet earl, divorce not wisdom from 
your honour. 

Mor. The lives of all your loving complices 
Lean on your health ; the which, if you give o'er 
To stormy passion, must perforce decay. 
You cast the event of war, my noble lord. 
And summ'd the account of chance, before you said 
"Let us make head." It was your presurmise. 
That, in the dole of blows, your son might drop : 
You knew he walk'd o'er perils, on an edge, i7o 

More likely to fall in than to get o'er ; 
You were advised his flesh was capable 
Of wounds and scars and that his forward spirit 
Would lift him where most trade of danger ranged : 
Yet did you say "Go forth"; and none of this. 
Though strongly apprehended, could restrain 
The stiff-borne action : what hath then befallen. 
Or what hath this bold enterprise brought forth. 
More than that being which was like to be '^ 

L. Bard. We all that are engaged to this loss 180 
Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas 
That if we wrought out life 'twas ten to one ; 
And yet we ventured, for the gain proposed 
Choked the respect of likely peril fear'd ; 



10 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

And since we are o'erset, venture again. 
Come, we will all put forth, body and goods. 

Mor. 'T is more than time : and, my most 
noble lord, 
I hear for certain, and do speak the truth. 
The gentle Archbishop of York is up 

190 With well-appointed powers : he is a man 
Who with a double surety binds his followers. 
My lord your son had only but the corpse. 
But shadows and the shows of men, to fight; 
For that same word, rebellion, did divide 
The action of their bodies from their souls ; 
And they did fight with queasiness, constrained, 
As men drink potions, that their weapons only 
Seem'd on our side; but, for their spirits and 

souls. 
This word, rebellion, it had froze them up, 

200 As fish are in a pond. But now the bishop 
Turns insurrection to religion : 
Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts. 
He 's followed both with body and with mind ; 
And doth enlarge his rising with the blood 
Of fair King Richard, scraped from Pomfret 

stones ; 
Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause; 
Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land, 
Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke ; 
And more and less do flock to follow him. 

210 North. I knew of this before; but, to speak 
truth. 
This present grief had wiped it from my mind. 
Go in with me ; and counsel every man 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 11 

The aptest way for safety and revenge : 

Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed : 

Never so few, and never yet more need. [Exeunt. 

Scene II — London. A street 

Enter Falstaff, with his Page bearing his 
sword and bidder 

Fat. Sirrah, you giant, what says the doctor 
to my water ? 

Page. He said, sir, the water itself was a good 
healthy water ; but, for the party that owed it, he 
might have more diseases than he knew for. 

Fal. Men of all sorts take a pride to gird at 
me : the brain of this foolish-compounded clay, 
man, is not able to invent any thing that tends to 
laughter, more than I invent or is invented onio 
me : I am not only witty in myself, but the cause 
that wit is in other men. I do here walk before 
thee like a sow that hath overwhelmed all her 
litter but one. If the prince put thee into my 
service for any other reason than to set me off, 
why then I have no judgement. Thou whoreson 
mandrake, thou art fitter to be worn in my cap 
than to wait at my heels. I was never manned 
with an agate till now : but I will inset you 
neither in gold nor silver, but in vile apparel, 20 
and send you back again to your master, for a 
jewel, — the juvenal, the prince your master, 
whose chin is not yet fledged. I will sooner 
have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than 
he shall get one on his cheek; and yet he will 



12 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

not stick to say Ms face is a face-royal : God 
may finish it when he will, 'tis not a hair amiss 
yet : he may keep it still at a face-royal, for a 
barber shall never earn sixpence out of it; and 

30 yet he '11 be crowing as if he had writ man ever 
since his father wa,s a bachelor. He may keep 
his own grace, but ihe 's almost out of mine, I 
can assure him. Wiiat said Master Dombledon 
about the satin for my short cloak and my slops.? 
Page. He said, sir, you should procure him 
better assurance than Bardolph : he would not 
take his band and yours; he liked not the se- 
curity. 

Fal. Let him be damned, like the glutton ! 

40 pray God his tongue be hotter ! A whoreson 
Achitophel ! a rascally yea-forsooth knave ! to 
bear a gentleman in hand, and then stand upon 
security ! The whoreson smooth-pates do now 
wear nothing but high shoes, and bunches of 
keys at their girdles; and if a man is through 
with them in honest taking up, then they must 
stand upon security. I had as lief they would 
put ratsbane in my mouth as offer to stop it with 
security. I looked a' should have sent me two 

50 and twenty yards of satin, as I am a true knight, 
and he sends me security. Well, he may sleep 
in security; for he hath the horn of abundance, 
and the lightness of his wife shines through it : 
and yet cannot he see, though he have his own 
lanthorn to light him. Where 's Bardolph ^ 

Page. He 's gone into Smithfield to buy your 
worship a horse. 



Scene Two] KING. HENRY THE FOURTH 13 

FaL I bought him in Paul's, and he '11 buy 
me a horse in Smithfield : an I could get me but 
a wife in the stews, I were manned, horsed, andeo 
wived. 

Enter the Lord Chief -Justice and Servant 

Page. Sir, here comes the nobleman that 
committed the prince for striking him about 
Bardolph. 

Fat. Wait close ; I will not see him. 

Ch. Just. What 's he that goes there ^ 

Serv. Falstaff, an 't please your lordship. 

Ch. Just. He that was in question for the 
robbery ? 

Serv. He, my lord : but he hath since done 7o 
good service at Shrewsbury; and, as I hear, is 
now going with some charge to the Lord John of 
Lancaster. 

Ch. Just. What, to York? Call him back 
again. 

Serv. Sir John Falstaff ! 

Fal. Boy, tell him I am deaf. 

Page. You must speak louder; my master is 
deaf. 

Ch. Just. I am sure he is, to the hearing of so 
any thing good. Go, pluck him by the elbow; I 
must speak with him. 

Serv. Sir John ! 

Fal. What! a young knave, and begging! 
Is there not wars.f^ is there not employment? 
doth not the king lack subjects ? do not the rebels 
need soldiers? Though it be a shame to be on 



14 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

any side but one, it is worse shame to beg than 
to be on the worst side, were it worse than the 
90 name of rebeUion can tell how to make it. 

Serv. You mistake me, sir. 

Fal. Why, sir, did I say you were an honest 
man? setting my knighthood and my soldiership 
aside, I had lied in my throat, if I had said so. 

Serv. I pray you, sir, then set your knight- 
hood and your soldiership aside; and give me 
leave to tell you, you lie in your throat, if you 
say I am any other than an honest man. 

Fal. I give thee leave to tell me so ! I lay 

100 aside that which grows to me ! If thou gettest 

any leave of me, hang me; if thou takest leave, 

thou wert better be hanged. You hunt counter : 

hence ! avaunt ! 

Serv. Sir, my lord would speak with you. 

Ch. Just. Sir John Falstaff, a word with you. 

Fal. My good lord ! God give your lordship 
good time of day. I am glad to see your lord- 
ship abroad : I heard say your lordship was sick : 
I hope your lordship goes abroad by advice. 
110 Your lordship, though not clean past your youth, 
hath yet some smack of age in you, some relish 
of the saltness of time; and I most humbly be- 
seech your lordship to have a reverent care of 
your health. 

Ch. Just. Sir John, I sent for you before your 
expedition to Shrewsbury. 

Fal. An 't please your lordship, I hear his 
majesty is returned with some discomfort from 
Wales. 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 15 

Ch. Just. I talk not of his majesty : you 120 
would not come when I sent for you. 

Fal. And I hear, moreover, his highness is 
fallen into this same whoreson apoplexy. 

Ch. Just. Well, God mend him ! I pray you, 
let me speak with you. 

Fal. This apoplexy is, as I take it, a kind of 
lethargy, an 't please your lordship ; a kind of 
sleeping in the blood, a whoreson tingling. 

Ch. Just. What tell you me of it ? be it as it is. 130 

Fal. It hath it original from much grief, 
from study and perturbation of the brain : I have 
read the cause of his effects in Galen : it is a 
kind of deafness. 

Ch. Just. I think you are fallen into the 
disease ; for you hear not what I say to you. 

Fal. Very well, my lord, very well : rather, 
an 't please you, it is the disease of not listening, 
the malady of not marking, that I am troubled 
withal. 140 

\\ Ch. Just. To punish you by the heels would 
amend the attention of your ears; and I care not 
if I do become your physician. 

Fal. I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not 
so patient : your lordship may minister the potion 
of imprisonment to me in respect of poverty ; but 
how I should be your patient to follow your pre- 
scriptions, the wise may make some dram of a 
scruple, or indeed a scruple itself. 

Ch. Just. I sent for you, when there were i5o 
matters against you for your life, to come speak 
with me. 



16 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

Fal. As I was tlien advised by my learned 
counsel in the laws of this land-service, I did not 
come. 

Ch. Just. Well, the truth is, Sir John, you 
live in great infamy. 

Fal. He that buckles him in my belt cannot 
live in less. 
160 Ch. Just. Your means are very slender, and 
your waste is great. 

Fal. I would it were otherwise ; I would my 
means were greater, and my waist slenderer. 

Ch. Just. You have misled the youthful prince. 

Fal. The young prince hath misled me : I am 
the fellow with the great belly, and he my dog. 

Ch. Just. Well, I am loath to gall a new- 
healed wound : your day's service at Shrewsbury 
hath a little gilded over your night's exploit on 
170 Gad's-hill : you may thank the unquiet time for 
your quiet o'er-posting that action. 

Fal. My lord.? 

Ch. Just. But since all is well, keep it so : 
wake not a sleeping wolf. 

Fal. To wake a wolf is as bad as to smell a 
fox. 

Ch. Just. What ! you are as a candle, the 
better part burnt out. 

Fal. A wassail candle, my lord, all tallow: 
180 if I did say of wax, my growth would approve 
the truth. 

Ch. Just. There is not a white hair on your 
face but should have his effect of gravity. 

Fal. His effect of gravy, gravy, gravy. 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 17 

Ch. Just. You follow the young prince up and 
down, like his ill angel. 

Fal. Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light; 
but I hope he that looks upon me will take me 
without weighing: and yet, in some respects, I 
grant, I cannot go: I cannot tell. Virtue is ofi9o 
so little regard in these costermonger times that 
true valour is turned bear-herd : pregnancy is made 
a tapster, and hath his quick wit wasted in giving 
reckonings : all the other gifts appertinent to man, 
as the malice of this age shapes them, are not 
worth a gooseberry. You that are old consider 
not the capacities of us that are young; you do 
measure the heat of our livers with the bitterness 
of your galls: and we that are in the vaward 
of our youth, I must confess, are wags too. 200 

Ch. Just. Do you set down your name in the 
scroll of youth, that are written down old with 
all the characters of age.^^ Have you not a 
moist eye ? a dry hand ? a yellow cheek ? a white 
beard .P a decreasing leg.? an increasing belly? is 
not your voice broken.? your wind short? your 
chin double? your wit single? and every part 
about you blasted with antiquity? and will you 
yet call yourself young ? Fie, fie, fie. Sir John ! 

Fal. My lord, I was born about three of the 210 
clock in the afternoon, with a white head and 
something a round belly. For my voice, I have 
lost it with halloing and singing of anthems. To 
approve my youth further, I will not: the truth 
is, I am only old in judgement and understanding ; 
and he that will caper with me for a thousand 



18 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

marks, let him lend me the money, and have at 
him ! For the box of the ear that the prince gave 
you, he gave it like a rude prince, and you took 
220 it like a sensible lord. I have checked him for it, 
and the young lion repents; marry, not in ashes 
and sackcloth, but in new silk and old Sack. 

Ch, Just. Well, God send the prince a better 
companion ! 

Fal. God send the companion a better prince ! 
I cannot rid my hands of him. 

Ch. Just. Well, the king hath severed you 
and Prince Harry : I hear you are going with 
Lord John of Lancaster against the Archbishop 
230 and the Earl of Northumberland. 

Fal. Yea; I thank your pretty sweet wit for 
it. But look you pray, all you that kiss my lady 
Peace at home, that our armies join not in a hot 
day; for, by the Lord, I take but two shirts out 
with me, and I mean not to sweat extraordinarily : 
if it be a hot day, and I brandish any thing but a 
bottle, I would I might never spit white again. 
There is not a dangerous action can peep out his 
head but I am thrust upon it: well, I cannot 
240 last ever : but it was alway yet the trick of our 
English nation, if they have a good thing, to 
make it too common. If ye will needs say I am 
an old man, you should give me rest. I would to 
God my name were not so terrible to the enemy 
as it is : I were better to be eaten to death with 
a rust than to be scoured to nothing with perpet- 
ual motion. 

Ch. Just, Well, be honest, be honest; and 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 19 

God bless your expedition ! 

Fal. Will your lordship lend me a thousand 250 
pound to furnish me forth ? 

Ch. Just Not a penny, not a penny ; you are 
too impatient to bear crosses. Fare you well: 
commend me to my cousin Westmoreland. 

[Exeunt Chief-Justice and Servant. 

Fal. If I do, fillip me with a three-man beetle. 
A man can no more separate age and covet- 
ousness than a' can part young limbs and lechery : 
but the gout galls the one, and the pox pinches 
the other; and so both the degrees prevent my 
curses. Boy ! 26O 

Page. Sir ? 

Fal. What money is in my purse ? 

Page. Seven groats and two pence. 

Fal. I can get no remedy against this con- 
sumption of the purse : borrowing only lingers 
and lingers it out, but the disease is incurable. 
Go bear this letter to my Lord of Lancaster ; this 
to the prince; this to the Earl of Westmoreland; 
and this to old Mistress Ursula, whom I have 
weekly sworn to marry since I perceived the first 270 
white hair on my chin. About it : you know 
where to find me. [Exit Page.] A pox of this 
gout ! or, a gout of this pox ! for the one or the 
other plays the rogue with my great toe. 'T is no 
matter if I do halt ; I have the wars for my colour, 
and my pension shall seem the more reasonable. 
A good wit will make use of any thing : I will turn 
diseases to commodity. [Exit. 



20 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

Scene III — Yorh. The Aechbishop's palace 

Enter the Archbishop, the Lords Hastings, 
Mowbray, and Bardolph 

Arch. Thus have you heard our cause and 
known our means ; 
And, my most noble friends, I pray you all. 
Speak plainly your opinions of our hopes : 
And first, lord marshal, what say you to it ? 

Mowh. I well allow the occasion of our arms; 
But gladly would be better satisfied 
How in our means we should advance ourselves 
To look with forehead bold and big enough 
Upon the power and puissance of the king. 
10 Hast. Our present musters grow upon the file 
To five and twenty thousand men of choice ; 
And our supplies live largely in the hope 
Of great Northumberland, whose bosom burns 
With an incensed fire of injuries. 

L, Bard. The question then. Lord Hastings, 
standeth thus ; 
Whether our present five and twenty thousand 
May hold up head without Northumberland ? 

Hast. With him, we may. 

L. Bard. Yea, marry, there 's the point : 
But if without him we be thought too feeble, 
20 My judgement is, we should not step too far 
Till we had his assistance by the hand ; 
For in a theme so bloody-faced as this 
Conjecture, expectation, and surmise 
Of aids incertain should not be admitted. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOUETH 21 

Arch. 'T is very true, Lord Bardolph; for 
indeed 
It was young Hotspur's case at Shrewsbury. 

L. Bard. It was, my lord; who lined himself 
with hope. 
Eating the air on promise of supply. 
Flattering himself in project of a power 
Much smaller than the smallest of his thoughts : 30 
And so, with great imagination 
Proper to madmen, led his powers to death 
And winking leap'd into destruction. 

Hast. But, by your leave, it never yet did hurt 
To lay down likelihoods and forms of hope. 

L. Bard. Yes, if this present quality of war, 
Indeed the instant action : a cause on foot 
Lives so in hope as in an early spring 
We see the appearing buds ; which to prove fruit, 
Hope gives not so much warrant as despair 40 

That frosts will bite them. When we mean to 

build. 
We first survey the plot, then draw the model; 
And when we see the figure of the house. 
Then must we rate the cost of the erection ; 
Which if we find outweighs ability. 
What do we then but draw anew the model 
In fewer offices, or at last desist 
To build at all ? Much more, in this great work. 
Which is almost to pluck a kingdom down 
And set another up, should we survey so 

The plot of situation and the model. 
Consent upon a sure foundation. 
Question surveyors, know our own estate. 



22 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

How able such a work to undergo, 
To weigh against his, opposite; or^else 
We fortify in paper and in figures, n 

Using the names of men instead of men : 
Like one that draws the model of a house 
Beyond his power to build it ; who, haK through, 
60 Gives o'er and leaves his part-created cost 
A naked subject to the weeping clouds 
And waste for churlish winter's tyranny. 

Hast. Grant that our hopes, yet likely of fair 
birth. 
Should be still-born, and that we now possess'd 
The utmost man of expectation, 
I think we are a body strong enough. 
Even as we are, to equal with the king. 
L. Bard. What, is the king but five and twenty 

thousand ? 
Hast. To us no more ; nay, not so much, Lord 
Bardolph. 
70 For his divisions, as the times do brawl. 
Are in three heads : one power against the French, 
And one against Glendower ; perforce a third 
Must take up us : so is the unfirm king 
In three divided ; and his coffers sound 
With hollow poverty and emptiness. 

Arch. That he should draw his several strengths 
together 
And come against us in full puissance, 
Need not be dreaded. 

Hast. If he should do so. 

He leaves his back unarm'd, the French and 
Welsh 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 23 

Baying him at the heels : never fear that. so 

L. Bard. Who is it hke should lead his forces 

hither ? 
Hast. The Duke of Lancaster and Westmore- 
land; 
Against the Welsh, himself and Harry Monmouth : 
But who is substituted 'gainst the French, 
I have no certain notice. 

Arch. Let us on, 

And publish the occasion of our arms. 
The commonwealth is sick of their own choice ; 
Their over-greedy love hath surfeited : 
An habitation giddy and unsure 
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart. 90 

O thou fond many, with what loud applause 
Didst thou beat heaven with blessing BoHngbroke, 
Before he was what thou wouldst have him be ! 
And being now trimm'd in thine own desires, 
Thou, beastly feeder, art so full of him. 
That thou provokest thyself to cast him up. 
So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge 
Thy glutton bosom of the royal Richard ; 
And now thou wouldst eat thy dead vomit up. 
And howl'st to find it. What trust is in these 

times ? 100 

They that, when Richard lived, would have him 

die. 
Are now become enamour'd on his grave : 
Thou, that threw'st dust upon his goodly head 
When through proud London he came sighing on 
After the admired heels of Bolingbroke, 
Criest now "O earth, yield us that king again. 



24 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

And take thou this ! " O thoughts of men accursed ! 

Past and to come seems best; things present 

worst. 

Mowb. Shall we go draw our numbers and set 

on? 

110 Hast. We are time's subjects, and time bids 

be gone. [Exeunt. 



ACT II 

Scene I — London. A street 

Enter Hostess, Fang and his Boy with her, and 
Snare following 

Host. Master Fang, have you entered the 
action ? 

Fang. It is entered. 

Host. Where's your yeoman? Is't a lusty 
yeoman ? will a' stand to 't ? 

Fang. Sirrah, where 's Snare ? 

Host. O Lord, ay ! good Master Snare. 

Snare. Here, here. 

Fang. Snare, we must arrest Sir John Falstaff . 
10 Host. Yea, good Master Snare ; I have entered 
him and all. 

Snare. It may chance cost some of us our lives, 
for he will stab. 

Host. Alas the day ! take heed of him ; he 
stabbed me in mine own house, arid that most 
beastly : in good faith, he cares not what mischief 
he does, if his weapon be out: he will foin like 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 25 

any devil; he will spare neither man, woman, 
nor child. 

Fang, If I can close with him, I care not for 20 
his thrust. 

Host. No, nor I neither : I '11 be at your elbow. 

Fang. An I but fist him once; an a' come 
but within my vice, — 

Host. I am undone by his going; I warrant 
you, he 's an infinitive thing upon my score. Good 
Master Fang, hold him sure : good Master Snare, 
let him not 'scape. A' comes continuantly to Pie- 
corner — saving your manhoods — to buy a saddle ; 
and he is indited to dinner to the Lubber's-head 30 
in Lumbert street, to Master Smooth's the silk- 
man : I pray ye, since my exion is entered and 
my case so openly known to the world, let him 
be brought in to his answer. A hundred mark is 
a long one for a poor lone woman to bear : and 
I have borne, and borne, and borne, and have 
been fubbed off, and fubbed off, and fubbed off, 
from this day to that day, that it is a shame to 
be thought on. There is no honesty in such 
dealing; unless a woman should be made an ass4o 
and a beast, to bear every knave's wrong. Yonder 
he comes; and that arrant malmsey-nose knave, 
Bardolph, with him. Do your offices, do your 
offices : Master Fang and Master Snare, do me, 
do me, do me your offices. 

Enter Falstaff, Page, and Bardolph 

Fal. How now! whose mare's dead? what's 
the matter? 



26 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Fang. Sir John, I arrest you at the suit of 
Mistress Quickly. 
50 Fal. Away, varlets ! Draw, Bardolph : cut 
me off the villain's head : throw the quean in the 
channel. 

Host. Throw me in the channel ! I '11 throw 
thee in the channel. Wilt thou? wilt thou? thou 
bastardly rogue ! Murder, murder ! Ah, thou 
honey-suckle villain ! wilt thou kill God's officers 
and the king's ? Ah, thou honey-seed rogue ! thou 
art a honey-seed, a man-queller, and a woman- 
queller. 
60 Fal. Keep them off, Bardolph. 

Fang. A rescue ! a rescue ! 

Host. Good people, bring a rescue or two. 
Thou wo 't, wo 't thou ? thou wo 't, wo 't ta ? do, 
do, thou rogue ! do, thou hemp-seed ! 

Fal. Away, you scullion ! you rampallian ! you 
fustilarian ! I '11 tickle your catastrophe. 

Enter the Lord Chief-Justice, and his men 

Ch. Just. What is the matter? keep the peace 
here, ho ! 

Host. Good my lord, be good to me. I beseech 
70 you, stand to me. 

Ch. Just. How now. Sir John! what are you 
brawling here ? 
Doth this become your place, your time and 

business ? 
You should have been well on your way to York. 
Stand from him, fellow: wherefore hang'st upon 
him? 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH £7 

Host. O my most worshipful lord, an 't please 
your grace, I am a poor widow of Eastcheap, 
and he is arrested at my suit. 

Ch. Just. For what sum ? 

Host. It is more than for some, my lord ; it is 
for all, all I have. He hath eaten me out of so 
house and home ; he hath put all my substance 
into that fat belly of his : but I will have some of 
it out again, or I will ride thee o' nights like the 
mare. 

Fal. I think I am as like to ride the mare, if 
I have any vantage of ground to get up. 

Ch. Just. How comes this, Sir John? Fie! 
what man of good temper would endure this tem- 
pest of exclamation .f* Are you not ashamed to 
enforce a poor widow to so rough a course to come 
by her own ? 9o 

Fal. What is the gross sum that I owe thee ? 

Host. Marry, if thou wert an honest man, 
thyself and the money too. Thou didst swear to 
me upon a parcel-gilt goblet, sitting in my Dol- 
phin-chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal 
fire, upon Wednesday in Wheeson week, when 
the prince broke thy head for liking his father to 
a singing-man of Windsor, thou didst swear to 
me then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry 
me and make me my lady thy wife. Canst thouioo 
deny it.^ Did not goodwife Keech, the butcher's 
wife, come in then and call me gossip Quickly? 
coming in to borrow a mess of vinegar ; telling us 
she had a good dish of prawns; whereby thou 
didst desire to eat some ; whereby I told thee they 



28 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

were ill for a green wound? And didst thou not, 
when she was gone down stairs, desire me to be 
no more so familiarity with such poor people; 
saying that ere long they should call me madam? 
110 And didst thou not kiss me and bid me fetch thee 
thirty shillings? I put thee now to thy book- 
oath : deny it, if thou canst. 

Fal. My lord, this is a poor mad soul; and 
she says up and down the town that her eldest 
son is like you : she hath been in good case, and 
the truth is, poverty hath distracted her. But 
for these foolish officers, I beseech you I may 
have redress against them. 

Ch. Just. Sir John, Sir John, I am well 
120 acquainted with your manner of wrenching the 
true cause the false way. It is not a confident 
brow, nor the throng of words that come with 
such more than impudent sauciness from you, can 
thrust me from a level consideration : you have, 
as it appears to me, practised upon the easy-yield- 
ing spirit of this woman, and made her serve your 
uses both in purse and in person. 

Host. Yea, in truth, my lord. 

Ch. Just. Pray thee, peace. Pay her the debt 
130 you owe her, and unpay the villany you have done 
her : the one you may do with sterling money, and 
the other with current repentance. 

Fal. My lord, I will not undergo this sneap 
without reply. You call honourable boldness 
impudent sauciness : if a man will make courtesy 
and say nothing, he is virtuous : no, my lord, my 
humble duty remembered, I will not be your 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 29 

suitor. I say to you, I do desire deliverance from 
these officers, being upon hasty employment in 
the king's affairs. i4o 

Ch. Just. You speak as having power to do 
wrong: but answer in the effect of your reputa- 
tion, and satisfy the poor woman. 

Fal. Come hither, hostess. 

Enter Gower 

Ch. Just. Now, Master Gower, what news? 

Gow. The king, my lord, and Harry Prince 
of Wales 
Are near at hand : the rest the paper tells. 

Fal. As I am a gentleman. 

Host. Faith, you said so before. 

Fal. As I am a gentleman. Come, no moreiso 
words of it. 

Host. By this heavenly ground I tread on, I 
must be fain to pawn both my plate and the 
tapestry of my dining-chambers. 

Fal. Glasses, glasses, is the only drinking: 
and for thy walls, a pretty slight drollery, or the 
story of the Prodigal, or the German hunting in 
water-work, is worth a thousand of these bed- 
hangings and these fly-bitten tapestries. Let it 
be ten pound, if thou canst. Come, an 't were not i6o 
for thy humours, there 's not a better wench in 
England. Go, wash thy face, and draw the action. 
Come, thou must not be in this humour with me ; 
dost not know me? come, come, I know thou 
wast set on to this. 

Host. Pray thee, Sir John, let it be but twenty 



30 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

nobles : i' faith, I am loath to pawn my plate, so 
God save me, la ! 

Fal. Let it alone ; I '11 make other shift : you '11 
170 be a fool still. 

Host Well, you shall have it, though I pawn 
my gown. I hope you '11 come to supper. You '11 
pay me all together ? 

Fal. Will I live? [To Bardolph] Go, with 
her, with her ; hook on, hook on. 

Host. Will you have Doll Tearsheet meet you 
at supper ? 

Fal. No more words ; let 's have her. 

[Exeunt Hostess, Bardolph, Officers, and Boy. 
Ch. Just. I have heard better news. 
180 Fal. What 's the news, my lord ? 

Ch. Just. Where lay the king last night ? 
Gow. At Basingstoke, my lord. 
Fal. I hope, my lord, all 's well : what is the 
news, my lord ? 

Ch. Just. Come all his forces back ? 
Gow. No; fifteen hundred foot, five hundred 
horse, 
Are march'd up to my lord of Lancaster, 
Against Northumberland and the Archbishop. 
Fal. Comes the king back from Wales, my 
noble lord ? 
190 Ch. Just. You shall have letters of me presently : 
Come, go along with me, good Master Gower. 
Fal. My lord ! 

Ch. Ju^t. What 's the matter ? 
Fal. Master Gower, shall I entreat you with 
. me to dinner ? 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 31 

Gow. I must wait upon my good lord here; 
I thank you, good Sir John. 

Ch. Just. Sir John, you loiter here too long, 
being you are to take soldiers up in counties 
as you go. 200 

Fal. Will you sup with me. Master Gower? 

Ch. Just. What foolish master taught you 
these manners. Sir John ? 

Fal. Master Gower, if they become me not, 
he was a fool that taught them me. This is the 
right fencing grace, my lord; tap for tap, and so 
part fair. 

Ch. Just. Now the Lord lighten thee ! thou 
art a great fool. [Exeunt. 

Scene II — London. Another street 
Enter Prince Henry and Poins 

Prince. Before God, I am exceeding weary. 

Poins. Is 't come to that.? I had thought 
weariness durst not have attached one of so high 
blood. 

Prince. Faith, it does me ; though it discolours 
the complexion of my greatness to acknowledge it. 
Doth it not show vilely in me to desire small beer ? 

Poins. Why, a prince should not be so loosely 
studied as to remember so weak a composition. 10 

Prince. Belike, then, my appetite was not 
princely got; for, by my troth, I do now remem- 
ber the poor creature, small beer. But, indeed, 
these humble considerations make me out of love 
with my greatness. What a disgrace is it to me 



32 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

to remember thy name ! or to know thy face to- 
morrow ! or to take note how many pair of silk 
stockings thou hast, viz. these, and those that 
were thy peach-coloured ones ! or to bear the 
20 inventory of thy shirts, as, one for superfluity, and 
another for use ! But that the tennis-court-keeper 
knows better than I; for it is a low ebb of linen 
with thee when thou keepest not racket there ; as 
thou hast not done a great while, because the 
rest of thy low countries have made a shift to eat 
up thy hoUand : and God knows, whether those 
that bawl out the ruins of thy linen shall inherit 
his kingdom: but the midwives say the children 
are not in the fault; whereupon the world in- 
30 creases, and kindreds are mightily strengthened. 

Poins. How ill it follows, after you have 
laboured so hard, you should talk so idly ! Tell 
me, how many good young princes would do so, 
their fathers being so sick as yours at this time is ? 

Prince. Shall I tell thee one thing, Poins .^ 

Poins. Yes, faith; and let it be an excellent 
good thing. 

Prince. It shall serve among wits of no higher 
breeding than thine. 
40 Poins. Go to; I stand the push of your one 
thing that you will tell. 

Prince. Marry, I tell thee, it is not meet that 
I should be sad, now my father is sick: albeit I 
could tell to thee, as to one it pleases me, for 
fault of a better, to call my friend, I could be sad, 
and sad indeed too. 

Poins. Very hardly upon such a subject. 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 33 

Prince. By this hand, thou thinkest me as 
far in the devil's book as thou and Falstaff for 
obduracy and persistency: let the end try the50 
man. But I tell thee, my heart bleeds inwardly 
that my father is so sick : and keeping such vile 
company as thou art hath in reason taken 
from me all ostentation of sorrow. 

Poins. The reason ? 

Prince. What wouldst thou think of me, if I 
should weep ? 

K Poins. I would think thee a most princely 
hypocrite. 

Prince. It would be every man's thought ; andeo 
thou art a blessed fellow to think as every man 
thinks : never a man's thought in the world keeps 
the road- way better than thine : every man would 
think me an hypocrite indeed. And what accites 
your most worshipful thought to think so ? 

Poins. Why, because you have been so lewd 
and so much engraffed to Falstaff. 

Prince. And to thee. 

Poins. By this Hght, I am well spoke on ; I can 
hear it with mine own ears : the worst that they 70 
can say of me is that I am a second brother and 
that I am a proper fellow of my hands ; and those 
two things, I confess, I cannot help. By the 
mass, here comes Bardolph. 

Enter Bardolph and Page 

Prince. And the boy that I gave Falstaff : a' 
had him from me Christian; and look, if the fat 
villain have not transformed him ape. 



34 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Bard. God save your grace ! 

Prince. And yours, most noble Bardolph! 
80 Bard. Come, you virtuous ass, you bashful 
fool, must you be blushing? wherefore blush you 
now? What a maidenly man-at-arms are you 
become ! Is 't such a matter to get a pottle-pot's 
maidenhead ? 

Page. A' calls me e'en now, my lord, through 
a red lattice, and I could discern no part of his 
face from the window: at last I spied his eyes, 
and methought he had made two holes in the 
ale-wife's new petticoat and so peeped through. 
90 Prince. Has not the boy profited ? 

Bard. Away, you whoreson upright rabbit, 
away ! 

Page. Away, you rascally Althaea's dream, 
away ! 

Prince. Instruct us, boy; what dream, boy? 

Page. Marry, my lord, Althaea dreamed she 
was delivered of a fire-brand; and therefore I 
call him her dream. 

Prince. A crown's worth of good interpreta- 
100 tion : there 't is, boy. 

Poins. O, that this good blossom could be 
kept from cankers ! Well, there is sixpence to 
preserve thee. 

Bard. An you do not make him hanged among 
you, the gallows shall have wrong. 

Prince. And how doth thy master, Bardolph? 

Bard. Well, my lord. He heard of your 
grace's coming to town : there 's a letter for you. 

Poins. Delivered with good respect. And how 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 35 

doth the martlemas, your master ? no 

Bard. In bodily health, sir. 

Poins. Marry, the immortal part needs a 
physician; but that moves not him: though 
that be sick, it dies not. 

Prince. I do allow this wen to be as familiar 
with me as my dog; and he holds his place; for 
look you how he writes. 

Poins. [Reads] "John Falstaff, knight," — every 
man must know that, as oft as he has occasion to 
name himself : even like those that are kin to the 120 
king; for they never prick their finger but they 
say, "There's some of the king's blood spilt." 
"How comes that?" says he, that takes upon 
him not to conceive. The answer is as ready 
as a borrower's cap, "I am the king's poor 
cousin, sir." 

Prince. Nay, they will be kin to us, or they 
will fetch it from Japhet. But to the letter : 

Poins. [Reads] "Sir John Falstafif, knight, to 
the son of the king, nearest his father, Harry 130 
Prince of Wales, greeting." Why, this is a 
certificate. 

Prince. Peace ! 

Poins. [Reads] "I will imitate the honour- 
able Romans in brevity": he sure means brevity 
in breath, short-winded. " I commend me to thee, 
I commend thee, and I leave thee. Be not too 
familiar with Poins; for he misuses thy favours 
so much, that he swears thou art to marry his 
sister Nell. Repent at idle times as thou mayest ; i40 
and so, farewell. 



36 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

"Thine, by yea and no, which is as much 
as to say, as thou usest him. Jack Fal- 
STAPF with my famihars, John with my 
brothers and sisters, and Sir John with 
all Europe." 
My lord, I '11 steep this letter in sack and make 
him eat it. 

Prince. That's to make him eat twenty of 
150 his words. But do you use me thus, Ned.f^ must 
I marry your sister ^ 

Poins. God send the wench no worse fortune ! 
But I never said so. 

Prince. Well, thus we play the fools with 
the time, and the spirits of the wise sit in the 
clouds and mock us. Is your master here in 
London ? 

Bard. Yea, my lord. 

Prince. Where sups he? doth the old boar 
160 feed in the old frank ? 

Bard. At the old place, my lord, in East- 
cheap. 

Prince. What company ? 
Page. Ephesians, my lord, of the old church. 
Prince. Sup any women with him ? 
Page. None, my lord, but old Mistress Quickly 
and Mistress Doll Tearsheet. 

Prince. What pagan may that be ? 
Page. A proper gentlewoman, sir, and a kins- 
170 woman of my master's. 

Prince. Even such kin as the parish heifers 
are to the town bull. Shall we steal upon them, 
Ned, at supper ? 



Scene Theee] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 37 

Poins. I am your shadow, my lord ; I '11 follow 
you. 

Prince. Sirrah, you boy, and Bardolph, no 
word to your master that I am yet come to town : 
there 's for your silence. 

Bard. I have no tongue, sir. 

Page. And for mine, sir, I will govern it. iso 

Prince. Fare you well; go. [Exeunt Bardolph 
and Page.] This Doll Tearsheet should be some 
road. 

Poins. I warrant you, as common as the way 
between Saint Alban's and London. 

Prince. How might we see Falstaff bestow 
himself to-night in his true colours, and not our- 
selves be seen ? 

Poins. Put on two leathern jerkins and 
aprons, and wait upon him at his table as i90 
drawers. 

Prince. From a God to a bull.? a heavy 
descension ! it was Jove's case. From a prince 
to a prentice ? a low transformation ! that shall 
be mine; for in every thing the purpose must 
weigh with the folly. Follow me, Ned. [Exeunt. 

Scene HI — Warkwortk. Before the castle 

Enter Northumberland, Lady Northumberland, and 
Lady Percy 

North. I pray thee, loving wife, and gentle 
daughter. 
Give even way unto my rough affairs ; 
Put not you on the visage of the times 



38 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

And be like them to Percy troublesome. 

Lady N. I have given over, I will speak no 

more: 
Do what you will ; your wisdom be your guide. 
North. Alas, sweet wife, my honour is at 

pawn; 
And, but my going, nothing can redeem it. 

Lady P. O yet, for God's sake, go not to these 

wars ! 
10 The time was, father, that you broke your word, 
When you were more endear'd to it than now ; 
When your own Percy, when my heart's dear 

Harry, 
Threw many a northward look to see his father 
Bring up his powers ; but he did long in vain. 
Who then persuaded you to stay at home ? 
There were two honours lost, yours and your son's. 
For yours, the God of heaven brighten it ! 
For his, it stuck upon him as the sun 
In the grey vault of heaven, and by his light 
20 Did all the chivalry of England move 
To do brave acts : he was indeed the glass 
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves : 
He had no legs that practised not his gait ; 
And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish, 
Became the accents of the valiant ; ^ 

For those that could speak low and tardily 
Would turn their own perfection to abuse. 
To seem like him : so that in speech, in gait. 
In diet, in affections of delight, 
30 In military rules, humours of blood, 
He was the mark and glass, copy and book. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 39 

That fashion'd others. And him, O wondrous 

him ! 
O miracle of men ! him did you leave, 
Second to none, unseconded by you, . 
To look upon the hideous god of war 
In disadvantage ; to abide a field 
Where nothing but the sound of Hotspur's name 
Did seem defensible : so you left him. 
Never, O never, do his ghost the wrong 
To hold your honour more precise and nice 4o 

With others than with him ! let them alone : 
The marshal and the archbishop are strong : 
Had my sweet Harry had but half their numbers, 
To-day might I, hanging on Hotspur's neck, 
Have talk'd of Monmouth's grave. 

North. Beshrew your heart, 

Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me 
With new lamenting ancient oversights. 
But I must go and meet with danger there. 
Or it will seek me in another place 
And find me worse provided. 

Lady N. O, fly to Scotland, so 

Till that the nobles and the armed commons 
Have of their puissance made a little taste. 

Lady P. If they get ground and vantage of the 
king. 
Then join you with them, like a rib of steel. 
To make strength stronger ; but, for all our loves, 
First let them try themselves. So did your son; 
He was so suffer'd : so came I a widow ; 
And never shall have length of life enough 
To rain upon remembrance with mine eyes. 



40 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

60 That it may grow and sprout as high as heaven. 
For recordation to my noble husband. 

North. Come, come, go in with me. 'T is 
with my mind 
As with the tide swelFd up unto his height. 
That makes a still-stand, running neither way : 
Fain would I go to meet the archbishop, 
But many thousand reasons hold me back. 
I will resolve for Scotland : there am I, 
Till time and vantage crave my company. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV — London. The Boards-head Tavern 
in Eastcheap 

Enter two Drawers 

First Draw. What the devil hast thou brought 
there? apple-johns .f* thou knowest Sir John can- 
not endure an apple-john. 

Sec. Draw. Mass, thou sayest true. The 
prince once set a dish of apple- Johns before him, 
and told him there were five more Sir Johns, 
and, putting ojff his hat, said " I will now take 
my leave of these six dry, round, old, withered 
knights." It angered him to the heart : but he 
10 hath forgot that. 

First Draw. Why, then, cover, and set them 
down : and see if thou canst find out Sneak's 
noise; Mistress Tearsheet would fain hear some 
music. Dispatch: the room where they supped 
is too hot ; they '11 come in straight. 

Sec. Draw. Sirrah, here will be the prince 
and Master Poins anon; and they will put on 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 41 

two of our jerkins and aprons; and Sir John 
must not know of it : Bardolph hath brought 
word. 20 

First Draw. By the mass, here will be old 
Utis : it will be an excellent stratagem. 

Sec, Draw. I '11 see if I can find out Sneak. 

[Exit 
Enter Hostess and Doll Tearsheet 

Host V faith, sweetheart, methinks now you 
are in an excellent good temperality : your pul- 
sidge beats as extraordinarily as heart would 
desire; and your colour, I warrant you, is as 
red as any rose, in good truth, la ! But, i' faith, 
you have drunk too much canaries ; and that 's 
a marvellous searching wine, and it perfumes so 
the blood ere one can say "What's this?" How 
do you now ^ 

Dot Better than I was : hem ! 

Host. Why, that 's well said ; a good heart 's 
worth gold. Lo, here comes Sir John. 

Enter Falstaff 

Fat [Singing] "When Arthur first in court" 
— Empty the Jordan. [Exit First Drawer.] — 
[Singing] "And was a worthy king." How now. 
Mistress Doll ! 

Host. Sick of a calm ; yea, good faith. 40 

Fat So is all her sect; an they be once in a 
calm, they are sick. 

Dot You muddy rascal, is that all the comfort 
you give me ^ 

Fat You make fat rascals, Mistress Doll. 



42 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Dol. I make them! gluttony and diseases 
make them ; I make them not. 

Fat. If the cook help to make the gluttony, 
you help to make the diseases, Doll: we catch 
50 of you, Doll, we catch of you; grant that, my 
poor virtue, grant that. 
Dol. Yea, joy, our chains and our jewels. 
Fal. "Your brooches, pearls, and ouches": 
for to serve bravely is to come halting off, you 
know : to come off the breach with his pike bent 
bravely, and to surgery bravely ; to venture upon 
the charged chambers bravely, — 

Dol. Hang yourself, you muddy conger, hang 
yourself ! 
60 Host. By my troth, this is the old fashion : 
you two never meet but you fall to some discord : 
you are both, i' good truth, as rheumatic as two 
dry toasts; you cannot one bear with another's 
confirmities. What the good-year ! one must 
bear, and that must be you : you are the weaker 
vessel, as they say, the emptier vessel. 

Dol. Can a weak empty vessel bear such a 
huge full hogshead .f^ there's a whole merchant's 
venture of Bourdeaux stuff in him ; you have not 
70 seen a hulk better stuffed in the hold. Come, 
I '11 be friends with-thee. Jack : thou art going 
to the wars; and whether I shall ever see thee 
again or no, there is nobody cares. 

Re-enter First Drawer 

First Draw. Sir, Ancient Pistol 's below, and 
would speak with you. 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 43 

Dol. Hang him, swaggering rascal! let him 
not come hither : it is the foul-mouthed'st rogue 
in England. 

M Host. If he swagger, let him not come here : 
no, by my faith; I must live among my neigh- so 
hours ; I '11 no swaggerers : I am in good] name 
and fame with the very best: shut the door; 
there comes no swaggerers here : I have not 
lived all this while, to have swaggering now: 
shut the door, I pray you. 

Fal. Dost thou hear, hostess ? 

Host. Pray ye, pacify yourself. Sir John: 
there comes no swaggerers here. 

Fal. Dost thou hear.? it is mine ancient. 

Host. Tilly-fally, Sir John, ne'er tell me : 90 
your ancient swaggerer comes not in my doors. 
I was before Master Tisick, the debuty, t' other 
day; and, as he said to me, 'twas no longer ago 
than Wednesday last, "I' good faith, neighbour 
Quickly," says he; Master Dumbe, our minister, 
was by then; "neighbour Quickly," says he, 
"receive those that are civil; for," said he, "you 
are in an ill name": now a' said so, I can tell 
whereupon; "for," says he, "you are an honest 
woman, and well thought on ; therefore take 100 
heed what guests you receive : receive," says he, 
"no swaggering companions." There comes none 
here : you would bless you to hear what he said : 
no, I '11 no swaggerers. 

Fal. He 's no swaggerer, hostess ; a tame 
cheater, i' faith; you may stroke him as gently 
as a puppy greyhound : _^he '11 not swagger with a 



44 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Barbary hen, if her feathers turn back in any 
show of resistance. Call him up, drawer. 

[Exit First Drawer, 
110 Host. Cheater, call you him.^^ I will bar no 
honest man my house, nor no cheater : but I do 
not love swaggering, by my troth; I am the 
worse, when one says swagger : feel, masters, 
how I shake ; look you, I warrant you. 
Dol. So you do, hostess. 

Host. Do I? yea, in very truth, do I, an 
'twere an aspen leaf: I cannot abide swag- 
gerers. 

Enter Pistol, Bardolph, and Page 

Pist. God save you. Sir John ! 
120 Fal. Welcome, Ancient Pistol. Here, Pistol, I 
charge you with a cup of sack : do you discharge 
upon mine hostess. 

Pist. I will discharge upon her, Sir John, with 
two bullets. 

Fal. She is pistol-proof, sir; you shall hardly 
offend her. 

Host. Come, I '11 drink no proofs nor no bullets : 
I '11 drink no more than will do me good, for no 
man's pleasure, I. 
130 Pist. Then to you. Mistress Dorothy; I will 
charge you. 

Dol. Charge me ! I scorn you, scurvy com- 
panion. What ! you poor, base, rascally, cheat- 
ing, lack-linen mate ! Away, you mouldy rogue, 
away ! I am meat for your master. 

Pist. I know you. Mistress Dorothy. 

DoL Away, you cut-purse rascal! you filthy 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 45 

bung, away ! by 'this wine, I '11 thrust my knife in 
your mouldy chaps, an you play the saucy cuttle, 
with me. Away, you bottle-ale rascal ! you 140 
basket-hilt stale juggler, you ! Since when, I 
pray you, sir? God's light, with two points on 
your shoulder ? much ! 

Pist. God let me not live, but I will murder 
your ruff for this. 

Fal. No more. Pistol ; I would not have you go 
off here : discharge yourself of our company, Pistol. 

Host. No, good Captain Pistol ; not here, sweet 
captain. iso 

Dol. Captain! thou abominable damned 
cheater, art thou not ashamed to be called 
captain .5^ An captains were of my mind, they 
would truncheon you out, for taking their names 
upon you before you have earned them. You a 
captain ! you slave, for what ^ for tearing a poor 
whore's ruff in a bawdy-house ? He a captain ! 
hang him, rogue ! he lives upon mouldy stewed 
prunes and dried cakes. A captain ! God's light, 
these villains will make the word as odious asieo 
the word "occupy"; which was an excellent good 
word before it was ill sorted : therefore captains 
had need look to 't. 

Bard. Pray thee, go down, good ancient. 

Fal. Hark thee hither. Mistress Doll. 

Pist. Not I: I tell thee what. Corporal Bar- 
dolph, I could tear her : I '11 be revenged of her. 

Page. Pray thee, go down. 

Pist. I '11 see her damned first ; to Pluto's 
damned lake, by this hand, to the infernal deep, 170 



46 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

with Erebus and tortures vile also. Hold hook 
and line, say I. Down, down, dogs! down, 
f aitors ! Have we not Hiren here ? 

Host. Good Captain Peesel, be quiet; 'tis 
very late, i' faith : I beseek you now, aggravate 
your choler. 

Fist. These be good humours, indeed! Shall 
pack-horses 
And hollow pamper 'd jades of Asia, 
Which cannot go but thirty mile a-day, 
180 Compare with Csesars, and with Cannibals, 

And Trojan Greeks ? nay, rather damn them with 
King Cerberus ; and let the welkin roar. 
Shall we fall foul for toys ? 

Host. By my troth, captain, these are very 
bitter words. 

Bard. Be gone, good ancient : this will grow 
to a brawl anon. 

Pist. Die men like dogs ! give crowns like 
pins ! Have we not Hiren here ? 
190 Host. O' my word, captain, there 's none such 
here. What the good-year ! do you think I would 
deny her? For God's sake, be quiet. 

Pist. Then feed, and be fat, my fair CaHpolis. 
Come, give 's some sack. 

"Si fortune me tormente, sperato me contento." 
Fear we broadsides ? no, let the fiend give fire : 
Give me some sack : and, sweetheart, lie thou 
there. [Laying down his sword. 

Come we to full points here; and are etceteras 
nothing ? 

Fal. Pistol, I would be quiet. 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 47 

Pist. Sweet knight, I kiss thy neif: what! 200 
we have seen the seven stars. 

Dol. For God's sake, thrust him down stairs : 
I cannot endure such a fustian rascal. 

Pist. Thrust him down stairs! know we not 
Galloway nags ? 

Fal. Quoit him down, Bardolph, like a shove- 
groat shiUing: nay, an a' do nothing but speak 
nothing, a' shall be nothing here. 

Bard, Come, get you down stairs. 

Pist. What! shall we have incision? shall we 

imbrue ? [Snatching up his sword. 210 

Then death rock me asleep, abridge my doleful 

days! 
Why, then, let grievous, ghastly, gaping wounds 
Untwine the Sisters Three! Come, Atropos, 
I say! 

Host. Here 's a goodly stuff toward ! 

Fal. Give me my rapier, boy. 

Dol. I pray thee. Jack, I pray thee, do not 
draw. 

Fal. Get you down stairs. 

[Drawing, and driving Pistol out. 

Host. Here 's a goodly tumult ! I '11 forswear 
keeping house, afore I '11 be in these tirrits and 220 
frights. So; murder, I warrant now. Alas, 
alas! put up your naked weapons, put up your 
naked weapons. [Exeunt Pistol and Bardolph. 

Dol. I pray thee. Jack, be quiet ; the rascal 's 
gone. Ah, you whoreson little valiant villain, you ! 
Host. Are you not hurt i' the groin ? methought 
a' made a shrewd thrust at your belly. 



48 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Re-enter Bardolph 

FaL Have you turned him out o' doors ? 
230 Bard. Yea, sir. The rascal 's drunk : you 
have hurt him, sir, i' the shoulder. 

Fat, A rascal ! to brave me ! 

Dot. Ah, you sweet little rogue, you ! Alas, poor 
ape, how thou sweatest ! come, let me wipe thy 
face ; come on, you whoreson chops : ah, rogue ! 
i* faith, I love thee : thou art as valorous as 
Hector of Troy, worth five of Agamemnon, and 
ten times better than the Nine Worthies : ah, 
villain ! 
240 Fal. A rascally slave! I will toss the rogue in 
a blanket. 

DoL Do, an thou darest for thy heart: an 

thou dost, I '11 canvass thee between a pair of 

sheets. 

Enter Music 

Page. The music is come, sir. 

Fal. Let them play. Play, sirs. Sit on my 
knee, Doll. A rascal bragging slave ! the rogue 
fled from me like quicksilver. 

Dol. V faith, and thou foUowedst him like a 

250 church. Thou whoreson little tidy Bartholomew 

boar-pig, when wilt thou leave fighting o' days and 

foining o' nights, and begin to patch up thine 

old body for heaven ? 

Entery behind. Prince Henry and Poins, disguised 

Fal. Peace, good Doll ! do not speak like a 
death's-head ; do not bid me remember mine end. 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 49 

Dol. Sirrah, what humour 's the prince of ? 

Fal. A good shallow young fellow : a* would 
have made a good pantler, a' would ha' chipped 
bread well. 

Dol. They say Poins has a good wit. 26o 

Fal. He a good wit ? hang him, baboon ! his 
wit 's as thick as Tewksbury mustard ; there 's 
no more conceit in him than is in a mallet. 

Dol. Why does the prince love him so, then .? 

Fal. Because their legs are both of a bigness, 
and a' plays at quoits well, and eats conger and 
fennel, and drinks off candles' ends for flap- 
dragons, and rides the wild-mare with the boys, 
and jumps upon joined-stools, and swears with a 
good grace, and wears his boots very smooth, 270 
like unto the sign of the leg, and breeds no bate 
with telling of discreet stories; and such other 
gambol faculties a' has, that show a weak mind 
and an able body, for the which the prince admits 
him : for the prince himself is such another ; the 
weight of a hair will turn the scales between 
their avoirdupois. 

Prince. Would not this nave of a wheel have 
his ears cut off .? 

Poins. Let 's beat him before his whore. 280 

Prince. Look, whether the withered elder hath 
not his poll clawed like a parrot. 

Poins. Is it not strange that desire should 
so many years outlive performance? 

Fal. Kiss me, Doll. 

Prince. Saturn and Venus this year in con- 
junction ! what says the almanac to that ^ 



50 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Poins. And, look, whether the fiery Trigon, 
his man, be not Hsping to his master's old tables, 
5Q0 his note-book, his counsel-keeper. 

Fal. Thou dost give me flattering busses. 

Dol. By my troth, I kiss thee with a most 
constant heart. 

Fal. I am old, I am old. 

Dol. I love thee better than I love e'er a scurvy 
young boy of them all. 

Fal. What stuff wilt have a kirtle of .^ I shall 
receive money o' Thursday : shalt have a cap to- 
morrow. A merry song, come : it grows late ; 
300 we '11 to bed. Thou 'It forget me when I am gone. 

Dol. By my troth, thou 'It set me a-weeping, 
an thou sayest so : prove that ever I dress myself 
handsome till thy return : well, hearken at the end. 

Fal. Some sack, Francis. 

Ptxtlcb ") 

p . ' \ Anon, anon, sir. [Coming forward. 

Fal. Ha! a bastard son of the king's? And 
art not thou Poins his brother ? 

Prince. Why, thou globe of sinful continents, 
310 what a life dost thou lead ! 

Fal. A better than thou: I am a gentleman; 
thou art a drawer. 

Prince. Very true, sir ; and I come to draw you 
out by the ears. 

Host. O, the Lord preserve thy good grace! 
by my troth, welcome to London. Now, the 
Lord bless that sweet face of thine ! O Jesu, are 
you come from Wales ? 

Fal. Thou whoreson mad compound of ma- 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 51 

jesty, by this light flesh and corrupt blood, thou 320 
art welcome. 

Dol. How, you fat fool ! I scorn you. 

Poins. My lord, he will drive you out of your 
revenge and turn all to a merriment, if you take 
not the heat. 

Prince. You whoreson candle-mine, you, how 
vilely did you speak of me even now before this 
honest, virtuous, civil gentlewoman ! 

Host. God's blessing of your good heart! and 
so she is, by my troth. 330 

Fal. Didst thou hear me ? 

Prince. Yea; and you knew me, as you did 
when you ran away by Gad's-hill : you knew I 
was at your back, and spoke it on purpose to try 
my patience. 

Fal. No, no, no ; not so ; I did not think thou 
wast within hearing. 

Prince. I shall drive you then to confess the 
wilful abuse ; and then I know how to handle you. 

Fal. No abuse, Hal, o' mine honour ; no abuse. 340 

Prince. Not to dispraise me, and call me pant- 
ler and bread-chipper and I know not what? 

Fal. No abuse, Hal. 

Poins. No abuse ? 

Fal. No abuse, Ned, i' the world; honest 
Ned, none. I dispraised him before the wicked, 
that the wicked might not fall in love with him; 
in which doing, I have done the part of a careful 
friend and a true subject, and thy father is to 
give me thanks for it. No abuse, Hal: none, 350 
Ned, none: no, faith, boys, none. 



52 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

Prince. See now, whether pure fear and entire 
cowardice doth not make thee wrong this virtu- 
ous gentlewoman to close with us. Is she 
of the wicked? is thine hostess here of the 
wicked? or is thy boy of the wicked? or honest 
Bardolph, whose zeal burns in his nose, of the 
wicked ? 

Poins. Answer, thou dead elm, answer. 

Fal. The fiend hath pricked down Bardolph 
360 irrecoverable ; and his face is Lucifer's privy- 
kitchen, where he doth nothing but roast malt- 
worms. For the boy, there is a good angel about 
him; but the devil outbids him too. 

Prince. For the women ? 

Fal. For one of them, she is in hell already, 
and burns poor souls. For the other, I owe her 
money; and whether she be damned for that, 
I know not. 

Host. No, I warrant you. 
370 Fal. No, I think thou art not ; I think thou 
art quit for that. Marry, there is another indict- 
ment upon thee, for suffering flesh to be eaten in 
thy house, contrary to the law; for the which I 
think thou wilt howl. 

Host. All victuallers do so: what's a joint of 
mutton or two in a whole Lent ? 

Prince. You, gentlewoman, — 

Dol. What says your grace ? 

Fal. His grace says that which his flesh rebels 
380 against. [Knocking within. 

Host. Who knocks so loud at door? Look to 
the door there, Francis. 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 53 

Enter Peto 

Prince. Peto, how now ! what news ? 

Peto. The king your father is at Westminster; 
And there are twenty weak and wearied posts 
Come from the north : and, as I came along, 
I met and overtook a dozen captains. 
Bare-headed, sweating, knocking at the taverns. 
And asking every one for Sir John Falstaff. 

Prince. By heaven, Poins, I feel me much to 

blame, 390 

So idly to profane the precious time. 
When tempest of commotion, like the south 
Borne with black vapour, doth begin to melt 
And drop upon our bare unarmed heads. 
Give me my sword and cloak. Falstaff, good 
night. [Exeunt Prince Henry, Poins, 

Peto, and Bardolph. 

Fal. Now comes in the sweetest morsel of 
the night, and we must hence and leave it unpicked. 
[Knocking within.] More knocking at the door ! 

Re-enter Bardolph 

How now ! what 's the matter ? 4oo 

Bard. You must away to court, sir, presently; 
A dozen captains stay at door for you. 

Fal. [To the Page] Pay the musicians, sirrah. 
Farewell, hostess; farewell, Doll. You see, my 
good wenches, how men of merit are sought after ; 
the undeserver may sleep, when the man of action 
is called on. Farewell, good wenches : if I be not 
sent away post, I will see you again ere I go. 



54 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

Dol. I cannot speak ; if my heart be not ready 

410 to burst, — well, sweet Jack, have a care of thyself. 

Fal. Farewell, farewell. [Exeunt Falstaff and 

Bardolph. 

Host. Well, fare thee well : I have known thee 

these twenty nine years, come peascod-time ; but 

an honester and truer-hearted man, — well, fare 

thee well. 

Bard. [Within] Mistress Tearsheet ! 
Host. What 's the matter ? 
Bard. [Within] Bid Mistress Tearsheet come 
to my master. 
420 Host. O, run, Doll, run ; run, good Doll : come. 
[She comes blubbered.] Yea, will you come, Doll? 

[Exeunt, 



ACT III 

Scene I — Westminster. The palace 
Enter the King in his nightgown, with a Page 

King. Go call the Earls of Surrey and of 

Warwick ; 
But, ere they come, bid them o'er-read these 

letters. 
And well consider of them : make good speed. 

[Exit Page. 
How many thousand of my poorest subjects 
Are at this hour asleep ! O sleep, O gentle sleep. 
Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee. 
That thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down 
And steep my senses in f orgetf ulness ? 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 55 

Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoky cribs, 

Upon uneasy pallets stretching thee lo 

And hush'd with buzzing night-flies to thy slumber, 

Than in the perfumed chambers of the great. 

Under the canopies of costly state. 

And luird with sound of sweetest melody ? 

O thou dull god, why liest thou with the vile 

In loathsome beds, and leavest the kingly couch 

A watch-case or a common 'larum-bell ? 

Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast 

Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains 

In cradle of the rude imperious surge 20 

And in the visitation of the winds. 

Who take the ruflian billows by the top, 

Curling their monstrous heads and hanging them 

With deafening clamour in the slippery clouds. 

That, with the hurly, death itself awakes ? 

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose 

To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude. 

And in the calmest and most stillest night, 

With all appliances and means to boot. 

Deny it to a king ? Then happy low, lie down ! so 

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

Enter Warwick and Surrey 

War. Many good morrows to your majesty ! 
King. Is it good morrow, lords ? 
War. 'T is one o'clock, and past. 
King. Why, then, good morrow to you all, my 
lords. 
Have you read o'er the letters that I sent you ? 
War. We have, my liege. 



56 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

King. Then you perceive the body of our 
kingdom 
How foul it is ; what rank diseases grow, 

40 And with what danger, near the heart of it. 
War. It is but as a body yet distemper'd ; 
Which to his former strength may be restored 
With good advice and httle medicine : 
My Lord Northumberland will soon be cool'd. 
King. O God ! that one might read the book of 
fate, 
And see the revolution of the times 
Make mountains level, and the continent, 
Weary of solid firmness, melt itself 
Into the sea ! and, other times, to see 

50 The beachy girdle of the ocean 
Too wide for Neptune's hips ; how chances mock. 
And changes fill the cup of alteration 
With divers liquors ! O, if this were seen. 
The happiest youth, viewing his progress through, 
What perils past, what crosses to ensue. 
Would shut the book, and sit him down and die. 
'T is not ten years gone 

Since Richard and Northumberland, great friends. 
Did feast together, and in two years after 

60 Were they at wars : it is but eight years since 
This Percy was the man nearest my soul, 
Who like a brother toil'd in my affairs 
And laid his love and life under my foot, 
Yea, for my sake, even to the eyes of Richard 
Gave him defiance. But which of you was by — 
You, cousin Nevil, as I may remember — 

[To Warwick. 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 57 

When Richard, with his eye brimful of tears, 
Then check'd and rated by Northumberland, 
Did speak these words, now proved a prophecy ? 
"Northumberland, thou ladder by the which 7o 

My cousin Bolingbroke ascends my throne" ; 
Though then, God knows, I had no such intent, 
But that necessity so bow'd the state 
That I and greatness were compell'd to kiss : 
"The time shall come," thus did he follow it, 
"The time will come, that foul sin, gathering head, 
Shall break into corruption" : so went on, 
Foretelling this same time's condition 
And the division of our amity. 

War. There is a history in all men's lives, so 
Figuring the nature of the times deceased ; 
The which observed, a man may prophesy, 
With a near aim, of the main chance of things 
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds 
And weak beginnings lie intreasured. 
Such things become the hatch and brood of time ; 
And by the necessary form of this 
King Richard might create a perfect guess 
That great Northumberland, then false to him. 
Would of that seed grow to a greater falseness; 90 
Which should not find a ground to root upon, 
Unless on you. 

King. Are these things then necessities ? 

Then let us meet them like necessities : 
And that same word even now cries out on us : 
They say the bishop and Northumberland 
Are fifty thousand strong. 

War, It cannot be, my lord ; 



58 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

Rumour doth double, like the voice and echo, 
The numbers of the fear'd. Please it your grace 
To go to bed. Upon my soul, my lord, 
100 The powers that you already have sent forth 
Shall bring this prize in very easily. 
To comfort you the more, I have received 
A certain instance that Glendower is dead. 
Your majesty hath been this fortnight ill. 
And these unseason'd hours perforce must add 
Unto your sickness. 

King. I will take your counsel : 

And were these inward wars once out of hand, 
We would, dear lords, unto the Holy Land.' 

[Exeunt. 

Scene H — Gloucestershire. Before Justice 
Shallow's liouse 

Enter Shallow and Silence, meeting; Mouldy, 

Shadow, Wart, Feeble, Bullcalf, a Servant or 

two with them I 

Shal. Come on, come on, come on, sir; give 

me your hand, sir, give me your hand, sir : an 

early stirrer, by the rood! And how doth my 

good cousin Silence ? 

Sil. Good morrow, good cousin Shallow. 
Shal. And how doth my cousin, your bed- 
fellow .^^ and your fairest daughter and mine, my 
god-daughter Ellen ? 

Sil. Alas, a black ousel, cousin Shallow ! 
10 Shal. By yea and nay, sir, I dare say my 
cousin William is become a good scholar : he is 
at Oxford still, is he not ? 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 59 

Sil. Indeed, sir, to my cost. 

Shal. A' must, then, to the inns o' court shortly. 
I was once of Clement's Inn, where I think they 
will talk of mad Shallow yet. 

Sil. You were called "lusty Shallow" then, 
cousin. 

Shal. By the mass, I was called any thing; 
and I would have done any thing indeed too, and 20 
roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit 
of Staffordshire, and black George Barnes, and 
Francis Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold 
man; you had not four such swinge-bucklers in 
all the inns o' court again : and I may say to you, 
we knew where the bona-robas were and had the 
best of them all at commandment. Then was 
Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, a boy, and page to 
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. 

Sil. This Sir John, cousin, that comes hither 30 
anon about soldiers ? 

Shal. The same Sir John, the very same. I 
see him break Skogan's head at the court-gate, 
when a' was a ^rack not thus high : and the very 
same day did I fight with one Sampson Stockfish, 
a fruiterer, behind Gray's Inn. Jesu, Jesu, the 
mad days that I have spent ! and to see how many 
of my old acquaintance are dead ! 

Sil. We shall all follow, cousin. 

Shal. Certain, 't is certain; very sure, very 40 
sure: death, as the Psalmist saith, is certain to 
all; all shall die. How a good yoke of bullocks 
at Stamford fair ? 

Sil. By my troth, I was not there. 



60 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

Shal. Death is certain. Is old Double of your 
town living yet ? ^ 

Sil. Dead, sir. 

Shal. Jesu, Jesu, dead! a' drew a good bow; 
and dead ! a* shot a fine shoot : John a Gaunt 
50 loved him well, and betted much money on his 
head. Dead ! a' would have clapped i' the clout 
at twelve score ; and carried you a forehand shaft 
a fourteen and fourteen and a half, that it would 
have done a man's heart good to see. How a 
score of ewes now ? 

Sil. Thereafter as they be: a score of good 
ewes may be worth ten pounds. 

Shal. And is old Double dead ? 

Sil. Here come two of Sir John Falstaff's 
60 men, as I think. 

Enter Bardolph and one with him 

Bard. Good morrow, honest gentlemen : I 
beseech you, which is Justice Shallow .f^ 

Shal. I am Robert Shallow, sir ; a poor esquire 
of this county, and one of the king's justices of the 
peace : what is your good pleasure with me ? 

Bard. My captain, sir, commends him to you; 
my captain. Sir John Falstaff, a tall gentleman, 
by heaven, and a most gallant leader. 

Shal. He greets me well, sir. I knew him a 
70 good backsword man. How doth the good knight ? 
may I ask how my lady his wife doth ? 

Bard. Sir, pardon; a soldier is better accom- 
modated than with a wife. 
• Shal. It is well said, in faith, sir; and it is 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 61 

well said indeed too. Better accommodated ! it 
is good ; yea, indeed, is it : good phrases are 
surely, and ever were, very commendable. Ac- 
commodated ! it comes of " accommodo " : very 
good; a good phrase. 

Bard. Pardon me, sir ; I have heard the word, so 
Phrase call you it.? by this good day, I know not 
the phrase; but I will maintain the word with 
my sword to be a soldier-like word, and a word 
of exceeding good command, by heaven. Ac- 
commodated ; that is, when a man is, as they say, 
accommodated; or when a man is, being, where- 
by a' may be thought to be accommodated ; which 
is an excellent thing. 

Shal. It is very just. 

Enter Falstaff 

Look, here comes good Sir John. Give me your 90 
good hand, give me your worship's good hand : 
by my troth, you like well and bear your years 
very well : welcome, good Sir John. 

Fal. I am glad to see you well, good Master 
Robert Shallow: Master Surecard, as I think? 

Shal. No, Sir John; it is my cousin Silence, 
in commission with me. 

Fal. Good Master Silence, it well befits you 
should be of the peace. 

Sil. Your good worship is welcome. 100 

Fal. Fie ! this is hot weather, gentlemen. 
Have you provided me here half a dozen sufficient 
men? 

Shal. Marry, have we, sir. Will you sit ? 



62 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

Fal. Let me see them, I beseech you. 

Shot. Where's the roll? where 's the roll? 
where 's the roll ? Let me see, let me see, let me 
see. So, so, so, so, so, so, so : yea, marry, sir : 
Ralph Mouldy ! Let them appear as I call ; let 
110 them do so, let them do so. Let me see; where 
is Mouldy? 

Moul. Here, an 't please you. 

Shot. What think you. Sir John? a good- 
limbed fellow ; young, strong, and of good friends. 

Fal. Is thy name Mouldy ? 

Moul. Yea, an 't please you. 

Fal. 'T is the more time thou wert used. 

Shal. Ha, ha, ha ! most excellent, i' faith ! 

things that are mouldy lack use : very singular 

120 good ! in faith, well said. Sir John, very well said. 

Fal. Prick him. 

Moul. I was pricked well enough before, an 
you could have let me alone : my old dame will 
be undone now for one to do her husbandry and 
her drudgery : you need not to have pricked me ; 
there are other men fitter to go out than I. 

Fal. Go to : peace. Mouldy ; you shall go. 
Mouldy, it is time you were spent. 

Moul. Spent ! 
130 Shal. Peace, fellow, peace ; stand aside : know 
you where you are ? For the other. Sir John : let 
me see : Simon Shadow ! 

Fal. Yea, marry, let me have him to sit under : 
he 's like to be a cold soldier. 

Shal. Where 's Shadow ? 

Shad. Here, sir. 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 63 

Fal. Shadow, whose son art thou ? 

Shad. My mother's son, sir. 

Fal. Thy mother's son ! like enough, and thy 
father's shadow: so the son of the female is thei4o 
shadow of the male: it is often so, indeed; but 
much of the father's substance ! 

Shot. Do you like him. Sir John ? 

Fal. Shadow will serve for summer; prick 
him, for we have a number of shadows to fill up 
the muster-book. 

Shal. Thomas Wart ! 

Fal. Where 'she? 

Wart. Here, sir. 

Fal. Is thy name Wart ? iso 

Wart. Yea, sir. 

Fal. Thou art a very ragged wart. 

Shal. Shall I prick him down. Sir John ? 

Fal. It were superfluous; for his apparel is 
built upon his back and the whole frame stands upon 
pins : prick him no more. 

Shal. Ha, ha, ha ! you can do it, sir ; you can 
do it: I commend you well. Francis Feeble! 

Fee. Here, sir. 

Fal. What trade art thou, Feeble ? 160 

Fee. A woman's tailor, sir. 

Shal. Shall I prick him, sir ^ 

Fal. You may : but if he had been a man's 
tailor, he 'Id ha' pricked you. Wilt thou make as 
many holes in an enemy's battle as thou hast done 
in a woman's petticoat .? 

Fee. I will do my good will, sir : you can have 
no more. 



64 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

FaL Well said, good woman's tailor ! well said, 

170 courageous Feeble ! thou wilt be as valiant as the 

wrathful dove or most magnanimous mouse. Prick 

the woman's tailor well, Master Shallow; deep, 

Master Shallow. 

Fee. I would Wart might have gone, sir. 

Fal. I would thou wert a man's tailor, that 
thou mightst mend him and make him fit to go. 
I cannot put him to a private soldier that is the 
leader of so many thousands : let that suffice, 
most forcible Feeble. 
180 Fee. It shall suffice, sir. 

Fal. I am bound to thee, reverend Feeble. 
Who is next ? 

Shot. Peter BuUcalf o' the green ! 

Fal. Yea, marry, let 's see BuUcalf. 

Bull. Here, sir. 

Fal. 'Fore God, a likely fellow! Come, 
prick me BuUcalf till he roar again. 

Bull. O Lord ! good my lord captain, — 

Fal. What, dost thou roar before thou art 
190 pricked } 

Bull. O Lord, sir ! I am a diseased man. 

Fal. What disease hast thou ? 

Bull. A whoreson cold, sir, a cough, sir, which 
I caught with ringing in the king's affairs upon 
his coronation-day, sir. 

Fal. Come, thou shalt go to the wars in a 

gown; we will have away thy cold; and I will 

take such order that thy friends shall ring for thee. 

Is here all ? 

200 Shal. Here is two more called than your 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 65 

number ; you must have but four here, sir : and 
so, I pray you, go in with me to dinner. 

Fal. Come, I will go drink with you, but I 
cannot tarry dinner. I am glad to see you, by 
my troth, Master Shallow. 

Shal. O, Sir John, do you remember since we 
lay all night in the windmill in Saint George's field ? 

Fal. No more of that, good Master Shallow, 
no more of that. 

Shal. Ha ! 't was a merry night. And is Jane 210 
Nightwork alive ? 

Fal. She lives. Master Shallow. 

Shal. She never could away with me. 

Fal. Never, never; she would always say 
she could not abide Master Shallow. 

Shal. By the mass, I could anger her to the 
heart. She was then a bona-roba. Doth she 
hold her own well ? 

Fal. Old, old. Master Shallow. 

Shal. Nay, she must be old; she cannot 220 
choose but be old; certain she 's old; and had 
Robin Nightwork by old Nightwork before I 
came to Clement's Inn. 

Sil. That 's fifty five year ago. 

Shal. Ha, cousin Silence, that thou hadst seen 
that that this knight and I have seen ! Ha, 
Sir John, said I well ? 

Fal. We have heard the chimes at midnight, 
Master Shallow. 

Shal. That we have, that we have, that we 230 
have ; in faith. Sir John, we have : our watch- 
word was " Hem boys \ " Come, let 's to dinner ; 



66 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

come, let 's to dinner: Jesus, the days that we 
have seen ! Come, come. 

[Exeunt Falstaff and the Justices. 

Bull. Good Master Corporate Bardolph, stand 
my friend; and here 's four Harry ten shiUings 
in French crowns for you. In very truth, sir, I 
had as hef be hanged, sir, as go : and yet, for 
mine own part, sir, I do not care; but rather, 
240 because I am unwilHng, and, for mine own part, 
have a desire to stay with my friends; else, sir, 
I did not care, for mine own part, so much. 

Bard. Go to ; stand aside. 

Moid. And, good master corporal captain, for 
my old dame's sake, stand my friend : she has 
nobody to do any thing about her when I am 
gone; and she is old, and cannot help herself: 
you shall have forty, sir. 

Bard. Go to; stand aside. 
250 Fee. By my troth, I care not; a man can die 
but once : we owe God a death : I '11 ne'er bear a 
base mind : an 't be my destiny, so ; an 't be not, 
so : no man is too good to serve 's prince ; and 
let it go which way it will, he that dies this year 
is quit for the next. 

Bard. Well said ; thou 'rt a good fellow. 

Fee. Faith, I '11 bear no base mind. 

Re-enter Falstaff and the Justices 

Fal. Come, sir, which men shall I have ? 
Shal. Four of which you please. 
260 Bard. Sir, a word with you: I have three 
pound to free Mouldy and BuUcalf . 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 67 

'Fal. Go to ; well. 

Shal. Come, Sir John, which four will you have ? 

FaL Do you choose for me. 

Shal. Marry, then, Mouldy, BuUcalf, Feeble 
and Shadow. 

FaL Mouldy and BuUcalf: for you, Mouldy, 
stay at home till you are past service : and for 
your part, BuUcalf, grow till you come unto it: 270 
I will none of you. 

Shal. Sir John, Sir John, do not yourself 
wrong : they are your likeliest men, and I would 
have you served with the best. 

Fal. Will you tell me. Master Shallow, how 
to choose a man ? Care I for the limb, the thewes, 
the stature, bulk, and big assemblance of a man ! 
Give me the spirit. Master Shallow. Here 's 
Wart ; you see what a ragged appearance it is : 
a' shall charge you and discharge you with the28o 
motion of a pewterer's hammer, come off and on 
swifter than he that gibbets on the brewer's 
bucket. And this same half-faced fellow. Sha- 
dow ; give me this man : he presents no mark to 
the enemy; the foeman may with as great aim 
level at the edge of a penknife. And for a re- 
treat; how swiftly will this Feeble the woman's 
tailor run off ! O, give me the spare men, and 
spare me the great ones. Put me a caliver into 
Wart's hand, Bardolph. 290 

Bard. Hold, Wart, traverse; thus, thus, thus. 

Fal. Come, manage me your caliver. So : 
very well : go to : very good, exceeding good. 
0, give me always a little, lean, old, chapt, bald 



68 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

shot. Well said, i' faith, Wart ; thou 'rt a good 
scab : hold, there 's a tester for thee. 

Shal. He is not his craft's master; he doth 
not do it right. I remember at Mile-end Green, 
when I lay at Clement's Inn, — I was then Sir 
300 Dagonet in Arthur's show, — there was a little 
quiver fellow, and a' would manage you his piece 
thus; and a' would about and about, and come 
you in and come you in: "rah, tah, tah," would 
a' say; "bounce" would a' say; and away again 
would a' go, and again would a' come : I shall 
ne'er see such a fellow. 

Fal. These fellows will do well, Master Shal- 
low. God keep you. Master Silence : I will not 
use many words with you. Fare you well, gen- 
310 tlemen both : I thank you : I must a dozen mile 
to-night. Bardolph, give the soldiers coats. 

Shal. Sir John, the Lord bless you ! God 
prosper your affairs ! God send us peace ! At 
your return visit our house; let our old acquaint- 
ance be renewed : peradventure I will with ye to 
the court. 

Fal. 'Fore God, I would you would. Master 
Shallow. 

Shal. Go to; I have spoke at a word. God 
320 keep you. 

Fal. Fare you well, gentle gentlemen. [Exeunt 
Justices.] On, Bardolph; lead the men away. 
[Exeunt Bardolph, Recruits, etc.] As I return, 
I will fetch off these justices : I do see the bottom 
of Justice Shallow. Lord, Lord, how subject we 
old men are to this vice of lying! This same 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 69 

starved justice hath done nothing but prate to me 
of the wildness of his youth, and the feats he 
hath done about TurnbuU Street; and every 
third word a he, duer paid to the hearer than the 330 
Turk's tribute. I do remember him at Clement's 
Inn hke a man made after supper of a cheese- 
paring : when a' was naked, he was, for all the 
world, like a forked radish, with a head fantas- 
tically carved upon it with a knife : a' was so for- 
lorn, that his dimensions to any thick sight were 
invincible : a' was the very genius of famine ; yet 
lecherous as a monkey, and the whores called 
him mandrake : a' came ever in the rearward of 
the fashion, and sung those tunes to the over- 340 
scutched huswives that he heard the carmen 
whistle, and sware they were his fancies or his 
good-nights. And now is this Vice's dagger be- 
come a squire, and talks as familiarly of John a 
Gaunt as if he had been sworn brother to him; 
and I '11 be sworn a' ne'er saw him but once in the 
Tilt-yard; and then he burst his head for crowd- 
ing among the marshal's men. I saw it, and told 
John a Gaunt he beat his own name; for you 
might have thrust him and all his apparel into an 350 
eel-skin; the case of a treble hautboy was a man- 
sion for him, a court : and now has he land and . 
beefs. Well, I '11 be acquainted with him, if I 
return; and it shall go hard but I will make him 
a philosopher's two stones to me : if the young 
dace be a bait for the old pike, I see no reason in 
the law of nature but I may snap at him. Let 
time shape, and there an end. [Exit. 



to KING HENRY THE FOUKTH [Act Four 

ACT IV 

Scene I — Yorkshire. Gaultree Forest 

Enter the Aechbishop of York, Mowbray, 
Hastings, and others 

Arch. What is this forest call'd ? 

Hast. 'T is Gaultree Forest, an 't shall please 
your grace. 

Arch. Here stand, my lords; and send dis- 
coverers forth 
To know the numbers of our enemies. 

Hast. We have sent forth already. 

Arch. 'T is well done. 

My friends and brethren in these great affairs, 
I must acquaint you that I have received 
New-dated letters from Northumberland ; 
Their cold intent, tenour and substance, thus : 
10 Here doth he wish his person, with such powers 
As might hold sortance with his quality, 
The which he could not levy ; whereupon 
He is retired, to ripe his growing fortunes, 
To Scotland : and concludes in hearty prayers 
That your attempts may overlive the hazard 
And fearful meeting of their opposite. 

Mowb. Thus do the hopes we have in him touch 
ground 
And dash themselves to pieces. 

Enter a Messenger 

Hast. Now, what news ? 

Mess. West of this forest, scarcely off a mile, 
20 In goodly form comes on the enemy ; 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 71 

And, by the ground they hide, I judge their number 
Upon or near the rate of thirty thousand. 

Mowb. The just proportion that we gave them 
out. 
Let us sway on and face them in the field. 

Arch. What well-appointed leader fronts us 
here? 

Enter Westmoreland 

Mowb. I think it is my Lord of Westmoreland. 

West. Health and fair greeting from our general, 
The prince. Lord John and Duke of Lancaster. 

Arch. Say on, my Lord of Westmoreland, in 
peace : 
What doth concern your coming ? 

West. Then, my lord, so 

Unto your grace do I in chief address 
The substance of my speech. If that rebellion 
Came like itself, in base and abject routs. 
Led on by bloody youth, guarded with rags. 
And countenanced by boys and beggary, 
I say, if damn'd commotion so appear'd. 
In his true, native and most proper shape, 
You, reverend father, and these noble lords 
Had not been here, to dress the ugly form 
Of base and bloody insurrection 40 

With your fair honours. You, lord archbishop. 
Whose see is by a civil peace maintained, 
Whose beard the silver hand of peace hath touch'd. 
Whose learning and good letters peace hath 

tutor'd. 
Whose white investments figure innocence, 



72 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

The dove and very blessed spirit of peace, 
Wherefore do you so ill translate yourself 
Out of the speech of peace that bears such grace. 
Into the harsh and boisterous tongue of war ; 

50 Turning your books to graves, your ink to blood. 
Your pens to lances and your tongue divine 
To a loud trumpet and a point of war ? 
Arch. Wherefore do I this? so the question 
stands. 
Briefly to this end : we are all diseased, 
And with our surfeiting and wanton hours 
Have brought ourselves into a burning fever. 
And we must bleed for it ; of which disease 
Our late king, Richard, being infected, died. 
But, my most noble Lord of Westmoreland, 

60 1 take not on me here as a physician. 
Nor do I as an enemy to peace 
Troop in the throngs of military men ; 
But rather show awhile like fearful war. 
To diet rank minds sick of happiness 
And purge the obstructions which begin to stop 
Our very veins of life. Hear me more plainly. 
I have in equal balance justly weigh'd 
What wrongs our arms may do, what wrongs we 

suffer. 
And find our griefs heavier than our offences. 

7oW^e see which way the stream of time doth run. 
And are enforced from our most quiet there 
By the rough torrent of occasion ; 
And have the summary of all our griefs. 
When time shall serve, to show in articles ; 
Which long ere this we offer'd to the king. 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 73 

And might by no suit gain our audience : 

When we are wrong'd and would unfold our 

I ■' griefs, 

We are denied access unto his person 

Even by those men that most have done us wrong. 

The dangers of the days but newly gone, so 

Whose memory is written on the earth 

With yet appearing blood, and the examples 

Of every minute's instance, present now, 

Hath put us in these ill-beseeming arms. 

Not to break peace or any branch of it. 

But to establish here a peace indeed. 

Concurring both in name and quality. 

West. When ever yet was your appeal denied ? 
Wherein have you been galled by the king ? 
What peer hath been suborn'd to grate on you, m 
That you should seal this lawless bloody book 
Of forged rebellion with a seal divine 
And consecrate commotion's bitter edge ? 

Arch. My brother general, the commonwealth. 
To brother born an household cruelty, 
I make my quarrel in particular. 

West. There is no need of any such redress ; 
Or if there were, it not belongs to you. 

Mowh. Why not to him in part, and to us all 
That feel the bruises of the days before, lOO 

And suffer the condition of these times 
To lay a heavy and unequal hand 
Upon our honours ^ 

West. O, my good Lord Mowbray, 

Construe the times to their necessities. 
And you shall say indeed, it is the time. 



74 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Foub 

And not the king, that doth you injuries. 
Yet for your part, it not appears to me 
Either from the king or in the present time 
That you should have an inch of any ground 

110 To build a grief on : were you not restored 
To all the Duke of Norfolk's signories. 
Your noble and right well remember'd father's ? 
Mowb. What thing, in honour, had my father 
lost. 
That need to be revived and breathed in me ? 
The king that loved him, as the state stood then. 
Was force perforce compell'd to banish him : 
And then that Henry Bolingbroke and he. 
Being mounted and both roused in their seats. 
Their neighing coursers daring of the spur, 

120 Their armed staves in charge, their beavers down. 
Their eyes of fire sparkling through sights of steel 
And the loud trumpet blowing them together. 
Then, then, when there was nothing could have 

stay'd 
My father from the breast of Bolingbroke, 
O, when the king did throw his warder down. 
His own life hung upon the staff he threw ; 
Then threw he down himself and all their lives 
That by indictment and by dint of sword 
Have since miscarried under Bolingbroke. 

130 West. You speak. Lord Mowbray, now you 
know not what. 
The Earl of Hereford was reputed then 
In England the most valiant gentleman : 
Who knows on whom fortune would then have 
smiled ? 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 75 

But if your father had been victor there, 

He ne'er had borne it out of Coventry : 

For all the country in a general voice 

Cried hate upon him; and all their prayers and 

love ) 

Were set on Hereford, whom they doted on 
And bless'd and graced indeed, more than the 

king. 
But this is mere digression from my purpose. i40 

Here come I from our princely general 
To know your griefs ; to tell you from his grace 
That he will give you audience ; and wherein 
It shall appear that your demands are just. 
You shall enjoy them, every thing set off 
That might so much as think you enemies. 

Mowb. But he hath forced us to compel this 

offer; 
And it proceeds from policy, not love. 

West. Mowbray, you overween to take it so ; 
This offer comes from mercy, not from fear : 150 

For, lo ! within a ken our army lies. 
Upon mine honour, all too confident 
To give admittance to a thought of fear. 
Our battle is more full of names than yours. 
Our men more perfect in the use of arms. 
Our armour all as strong, our cause the best ; 
Then reason will our hearts should be as good : 
Say you not then our offer is compelled. 

Mowb. Well, by my will we shall admit no 

parley. 
West. That argues but the shame of your 

offence : 160 



76 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

A rotten case abides no handling. 

Hast. Hath the Prince John a full commission, 
In very ample virtue of his father, 
To hear and absolutely to determine 
Of what conditions we shall stand upon ? 

West. That is intended in the general's name : 
I muse you make so slight a question. 

Arch. Then take, my Lord of Westmoreland, 
this schedule, 
For this contains our general grievances : 
170 Each several article herein redress'd, 

All members of our cause, both here and hence, 

That are insinew'd to this action, 

Acquitted by a true substantial form 

And present execution of our wills 

To us and to our purposes confined. 

We come within our awful banks again 

And knit our powers to the arm of peace. 

West. This will I show the general. Please 
you, lords, 
In sight of both our battles we may meet ; 
180 And either end in peace, which God so frame ! 
Or to the place of difference call the swords 
Which must decide it. 

Arch. My lord, we will do so. [Exit West. 

Mowh. There is a thing within my bosom tells 
me 
That no conditions of our peace can stand. 

Hast. Fear you not that : if we can make our 
peace 
Upon such large terms and so absolute 
As our conditions shall consist upon, 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 77 

Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains. 

Mowh. Yea, but our valuation shall be such 
That every slight and false-derived cause, 190 

Yea, every idle, nice and wanton reason 
Shall to the king taste of this action ; 
That, were our royal faiths martyrs in love, 
We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind 
That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff 
And good from bad find no partition. 

Arch. No, no, my lord. Note this; the king 
is weary 
Of dainty and such picking grievances : 
For he hath found to end one doubt by death 
Revives two greater in the heirs of life, 200 

And therefore will he wipe his tables clean 
And keep no tell-tale to his memory 
That may repeat and history his loss 
To new remembrance ; for full well he knows 
He cannot so precisely weed this land 
As his misdoubts present occasion : 
His foes are so enrooted with his friends 
That, plucking to unfix an enemy, 
He doth unfasten so and shake a friend : 
So that this land, like an offensive wife 210 

That hath enraged him on to offer strokes, 
As he is striking, holds his infant up 
And hangs resolved correction in the arm 
That was uprear'd to execution. 

Hast. Besides, the king hath wasted all his 
rods 
On late offenders, that he now doth lack 
The very instruments of chastisement : 



78 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

So that his power, Hke to a fangless Hon, 
May offer, but not hold. 

Arch. 'T is very true : 

220 And therefore be assured, my good lord marshal. 
If we do now make our atonement well, 
Our peace will, like a broken limb united, 
Grow stronger for the breaking. 

Mowb. Be it so. 

Here is returned my Lord of Westmoreland. 

Re-enter Westmoreland 

West. The prince is here at hand : pleaseth 

your lordship 
To meet his grace just distance 'tween our armies. 
Mowb. Your grace of York, in God's name, 

then, set forward. 
Arch. Before, and greet his grace: my lord, 

we come. [Exeunt. 

Scene II — Another part of the forest 

Enter, from one side, Mowbray, attended; afterwards 
the Archbishop, Hastings, and others: from the 
other side. Prince John of Lancaster, and 
Westmoreland; Officers, and others with them 

Lan. You are well encounter'd here, my cousin 
Mowbray : 
Good day to you, gentle lord archbishop ; 
And so to you. Lord Hastings, and to all. 
My Lord of York, it better show'd with you 
When that your flock, assembled by the bell. 
Encircled you to hear with reverence 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 79 

Your exposition on the holy text 

Than now to see you here an iron man, 

Cheering a rout of rebels with your drum, 

Turning the word to sword and life to death. lo 

That man that sits within a monarch's heart, 

And ripens in the sunshine of his favour, 

Would he abuse the countenance of the king, 

Alack, what mischiefs might he set abroach 

In shadow of such greatness ! With you, lord 

bishop. 
It is even so. Who hath not heard it spoken 
How deep you were within the books of God? 
To us the speaker in his parliament ; 
To us the imagined voice of God himself ; 
The very opener and intelligencer 20 

Between the grace, the sanctities of heaven 
And our dull workings. O, who shall believe 
But you misuse the reverence of your place, 
Employ the countenance and grace of heaven. 
As a false favourite doth his prince's name, 
In deeds dishonourable ? You have ta'en up. 
Under the counterfeited zeal of God, 
The subjects of his substitute, my father. 
And both against the peace of heaven and him 
Have here up-swarm'd them. 

Arch. Good my Lord of Lancaster, 30 

I am not here against your father's peace ; 
But, as I told my Lord of Westmoreland, 
The time misorder'd doth, in common sense, 
Crowd us and crush us to this monstrous form. 
To hold our safety up. I sent your grace 
The parcels and particulars of our grief. 



.80 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Pour 

The which hath been with scorn shoved from the 

court, 
Whereon this Hydra son of war is born ; 
Whose dangerous eyes may well be charm'd 
asleep 
40 With grant of our most just and right desires, 
And true obedience, of this madness cured. 
Stoop tamely to the foot of majesty. 

Mowb. If not, we ready are to try our fortunes 
To the last man. 

Hast. And though we here fall down, 
We have supplies to second our attempt : 
If they miscarry, theirs shall second them ; 
And so success of mischief shall be born 
And heir from heir shall hold this quarrel up 
Whiles England shall have generation. 
60 Lan. You are too shallow, Hastings, much 
too shallow, 
To sound the bottom of the after-times. 

West. Pleaseth your grace to answer them 
directly 
How far forth you do like their articles. 

Lan. I like them all, and do allow them well, 
And swear here, by the honour of my blood, 
My father's purposes have been mistook. 
And some about him have too lavishly 
Wrested his meaning and authority. 
My lord, these griefs shall be with speed redress'd ; 
60 Upon my soul, they shall. If this may please 
you. 
Discharge your powers unto their several counties. 
As we will ours : and here between the armies 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH SI 

Let 's drink together friendly and embrace, 
That all their eyes may bear those tokens home 
Of our restored love and amity. 

Arch. I take your princely word for these 

redresses. 
Lan. I give it you, and will maintain my word : 
And thereupon I drink unto your grace. 

Hast. Go, captain, and deliver to the army 
This news of peace : let them have pay, and part : 7o 
I know it will well please them. Hie thee, 
captain. [Exit Officer. 

Arch. To you, my noble Lord of Westmoreland. 
West, I pledge your grace; and, if you knew 
what pains 
I have bestow'd to breed this present peace, 
You would drink freely : but my love to ye 
Shall show itself more openly hereafter. 
Arch. I do not doubt you. 
West. I am glad of it. 

Health to my lord and gentle cousin, Mowbray. 
Mowb. You wish me health in very happy 
season ; 
For I am, on the sudden, something ill. so 

Arch. Against ill chances men are ever merry; 
But heaviness foreruns the good event. 

West. Therefore be merry, coz; since sudden 
sorrow 
Serves to say thus, "some good thing comes to- 
morrow." 
Arch. Believe me, I am passing light in spirit. 
Mowb. So much the worse, if your own rule 
be true. [Shouts ivithin. 



8^ KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Foub 

Lan. The word of peace is rendered: hark, 

how they shout ! 
Mowh. This had been cheerful after victory. 
Arch. A peace is of the nature of a conquest; 
90 For then both parties nobly are subdued. 
And neither party loser. 

Lan. Go, my lord. 

And let our army be discharged too. 

[Exit Westmoreland. 
And, good my lord, so please you, let our trains 
March by us, that we may peruse the men 
We should have coped withal. 

Arch. Go, good Lord Hastings, 

And, ere they be dismiss'd, let them march by. 

[Exit Hastings. 
Lan. I trust, lords, we shall lie to-night together. 

Re-enter Westmoreland 

Now cousin, wherefore stands our army still? 
West. The leaders, having charge from you to 
stand, 
100 Will not go off until they hear you speak. 
Lan. They know their duties. 

Re-enter Hastings 

Hast. My lord, our army is dispersed already : 
Like youthful steers unyoked, they take their 

courses 
East, west, north, south; or, like a school broke 

up. 
Each hurries toward his home and sporting- 
place. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 83 

West. Good tidings, my Lord Hastings; for 
the which 
I do arrest thee, traitor, of high treason : 
And you, lord archbishop, and you, lord Mowbray, 
Of capital treason I attach you both. 

Moiub. Is this proceeding just and honourable ? no 

West. Is your assembly so ? 

Arch. Will you thus break your faith ? 

Lan. I pawn'd thee none : 

I promised you redress of these same grievances 
Whereof you did complain; which, by mine 

honour, 
I will perform with a most Christian care. 
But for you, rebels, look to taste the due 
Meet for rebellion and such acts as yours. 
Most shallowly did you these arms commence, 
Fondly brought here and foolishly sent hence. 
Strike up our drums, pursue the scattered stray : 120 
God, and not we, hath safely fought to-day. 
Some guard these traitors to the block of death. 
Treason's true bed and yielder up of breath. 

[Exeunt, 

Scene IH — Another part of the forest 

Alarum. Excursions. Enter Falstaff and 
CoLEViLE, meeting 

Fal. What 's your name, sir.?^ of what condi- 
tion are you, and of what place, I pray ? 

Cole. I am a knight, sir; and my name is 
Cole vile of the dale. 

Fal. Well, then, Colevile is your name, a 



84 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Foub 

knight is your degree, and your place the dale: 
Cole^dle shall be still your name, a traitor your 
degree, and the dungeon your place, a place 
deep enough; so shall you be still Colevile of 

10 the dale. 

Cole. Are not you Sir John Falstaff ? 
Fal. As good a man as he, sir, whoe'er I am. 
Do ye yield, sir? or shall I sweat for you? If I 
do sweat, they are the drops of thy lovers, and 
they weep for thy death : therefore rouse up 
fear and trembling, and do observance to my 
mercy. 

Cole. I think you are Sir John Falstaff, and 
in that thought yield me. 

20 Fal. I have a whole school of tongues in 
this belly of mine, and not a tongue of them 
all speaks any other word but my name. An I 
had but a belly of any indifferency, I were 
simply the most active fellow in Europe: my 
womb, my womb, my womb, undoes me. Here 
comes our general. 

Enter Prince John of Lancaster, Westmoreland, 
Blunt, and others 

Lan. The heat is past ; follow no further now : 
Call in the powers, good cousin Westmoreland. 

[Exit Westmoreland. 
Now, Falstaff, where have you been all this 
while ? 
30 When every thing is ended, then you come : 
These tardy tricks of yours will, on my life. 
One time or other break some gallows' back. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 85 

Fal. I would be sorry, my lord, but it should 
be thus : I never knew yet but rebuke and check 
was the reward of valour. Do you think me a 
swallow, an arrow, or a bullet? have I, in 
my poor and old motion, the expedition of thought ? 
I have speeded hither with the very extremest 
inch of possibility; I have foundered nine score 
and odd posts : and here, travel-tainted as I am, 40 
have, in my pure and immaculate valour, taken 
Sir John Colevile of the dale, a most furious 
knight and valorous enemy. But what of that.f^ 
he saw me, and yielded; that I may justly say, 
with the hook-nosed fellow of Rome, "I came, 
saw, and overcame." 

Lan. It was more of his courtesy than your 
deserving. 

Fal. I know not : here he is, and here I yield 
him : and I beseech your grace, let it be booked 5o 
with the rest of this day's deeds ; or, by the Lord, 
I will have it in a particular ballad else, with 
mine own picture on the top on 't, Colevile 
kissing my foot: to the which course if I be 
enforced, if you do not all show like gilt two- 
pences to me, and I in the clear sky of fame 
o'ershine you as much as the full moon doth the 
cinders of the element, which show like pins' 
heads to her, believe not the word of the noble : 
therefore let me have right, and let desert 6o 
mount. 

Lan. Thine 's too heavy to mount. 

Fal. Let it shine, then. 

Lan. Thine 's too thick to shine. 



86 KING HENRY THE FOUHTH [Act Four 

Fal. Let it do something, my good lord, that 
may do me good, and call it what you will. 

Lan. Is thy name Cole vile ? 

Cole. It is, my lord. 

Lan. A famous rebel art thou, Colevile. 
70 Fal. And a famous true subject took him. 

Cole. I am, my lord, but as my betters are 
That led me hither : had they been ruled by me. 
You should have won them dearer than you 
have. 

Fal. I know not how they sold themselves : 
but thou, like a kind fellow, gavest thyself away 
gratis ; and I thank thee for thee. 

Re-enter Westmoreland 

Lan. Now, have you left pursuit ? 
West. Retreat is made and execution stay'd. 
Lan. Send Colevile with his confederates 
80 To York, to present execution : 
Blunt, lead him hence; and see you guard him 
sure. 

[Exeunt Blunt and others with Colevile. 
And now dispatch we toward the court, my lords : 
I hear the king my father is sore sick : 
Our news shall go before us to his majesty, 
Which, cousin, you shall bear to comfort him. 
And we with sober speed will follow you. 

Fal. My lord, I beseech you, give me leave 
to go 
Through Gloucestershire : and, when you come 

to court. 
Stand my good lord, pray, in your good report. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 87 

Lan. Fare you well, Falstaff: I, in my condi- 
tion, 90 
Shall better speak of you than you deserve. 

[Exeunt all hut Falstaff. 

Fat. I would you had but the wit : 't were 
better than your dukedom. Good faith, this 
same young sober-blooded boy doth not love 
me; nor a man cannot make him laugh; but 
that 's no marvel, he drinks no wine. There 's 
never none of these demure boys come to any 
proof; for thin drink doth so over-cool their 
blood, and making many fish-meals, that they 
fall into a kind of male green-sickness ; and then, loo 
when they marry, they get wenches: they are 
generally fools and cowards; which some of us 
should be too, but for inflammation. A good 
sherris-sack hath a two-fold operation in it. It 
ascends me into the brain; dries me there all the 
foolish and dull and crudy vapours which environ 
it; makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full 
of nimble fiery and delectable shapes; which, 
delivered o'er to the voice, the tongue, which 
is the birth, becomes excellent wit. The second no 
property of your excellent sherris is, the warming 
of the blood; which, before cold and settled, 
left the liver white and pale, which is the badge 
of pusillanimity and cowardice; but the sherris 
warms it and makes it course from the inwards 
to the parts extreme : it illumineth the face, 
which as a beacon gives warning to all the rest 
of this little kingdom, man, to arm; and then 
the vital commoners and inland petty spirits 



88 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

120 muster me all to their captain, the heart, who, 
great and puffed up with this retinue, doth any 
deed of courage ; and this valour comes of sherris. 
So that skill in the weapon is nothing without 
sack, for that sets it a- work; and learning a mere 
hoard of gold kept by a devil, till sack com- 
mences it and sets it in act and use. Hereof 
comes it that Prince Harry is valiant; for the 
cold blood he did naturally inherit of his father, 
he hath, like lean, sterile and bare land, manured, 

130 husbanded and tilled with excellent endeavour 
of drinking good and good store of fertile sherris, 
that he is become very hot and valiant. If I 
had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I 
would teach them should be, to forswear thin 
potations and to addict themselves to sack. 

Enter Bardolph 

How now, Bardolph ? 

Bard. The army is discharged all and gone. 

Fal. Let them go. I'll through Gloucester- 
shire; and there will I visit Master Robert Shal- 
140 low, esquire : I have him already tempering 
between my finger and my thumb, and shortly 
will I seal with him. Come away. [Exeunt. 

Scene IV — Westminster. The Jerusalem Chamber 

Enter the King, the Princes Thomas of Clarence 
and Humphrey of Gloucester, Warwick, and 
others 

King. Now, lords, if God doth give successful 
end 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 89 

To this debate that bleedeth at our doors, 

We will our youth lead on to higher fields 

And draw no swords but what are sanctified. 

Our navy is address'd, our power collected, 

Our substitutes in absence well invested, 

And every thing lies level to our wish : 

Only, we want a little personal strength ; 

And pause us, till these rebels, now afoot. 

Come underneath the yoke of government. lo 

War. Both which we doubt not but your 
majesty 
Shall soon enjoy. 

King. Humphrey, my son of Gloucester, 

Where is the prince your brother ? 

Glou. I think he 's gone to hunt, my lord, at 
Windsor. 

King. And how accompanied ? 

Glou. I do not know, my lord. 

King. Is not his brother, Thomas of Clarence^ 
with him ? 

Glou. No, my good lord; he is in presence 
here. 

Clar. What would my lord and father ? 

King. Nothing but well to thee, Thomas of 
Clarence. 
How chance thou art not with the prince thy 

brother ? 20 

He loves thee, and thou dost neglect him, Thomas ; 
Thou hast a better place in his affection 
Than all thy brothers : cherish it, my boy. 
And noble oflSices thou mayst effect 
Of mediation, after I am dead. 



90 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

Between his greatness and thy other brethren : 
Therefore omit him not ; blunt not his love. 
Nor lose the good advantage of his grace 
By seeming cold or careless of his will ; 
30 For he is gracious, if he be observed : 
He hath a tear for pity and a hand 
Open as day for melting charity : 
Yet notwithstanding, being incensed, he 's flint. 
As humorous as winter and as sudden 
As flaws congealed in the spring of day. 
His temper, therefore, must be well observed : 
Chide him for faults, and do it reverently, 
When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth ; 
But, being moody, give him line and scope, 
40 Till that his passions, like a whale on ground, ' 
Confound themselves with working. Learn this, 

Thomas, 
And thou shalt prove a shelter to thy friends, 
A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in. 
That the united vessel of their blood. 
Mingled with venom of suggestion — 
As, force perforce, the age will pour it in — 
Shall never leak, though it do work as strong 
As aconitum or rash gunpowder. 

Clar. I shall observe him with all care and 

love. 
^m King. Why art thou not at Windsor with him, 

Thomas? ^^ 

Clar. He is not there to-day; he dines in 

London. 
King. And how accompanied.^ canst thou tell 

that?'' 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 91 

Clar. With Poins, and other his continual 

followers. 
King. Most subject is the fattest soil to weeds ; 
And he, the noble image of my youth, 
Is overspread with them : therefore my grief 
Stretches itself beyond the hour of death : 
The blood weeps from my heart when I do shape 
In forms imaginary the unguided days 
And rotten times that you shall look upon 60 

When I am sleeping with my ancestors. 
For when his headstrong riot hath no curb. 
When rage and hot blood are his counsellors. 
When means and lavish manners meet together, 
O, with what wings shall his affections fly 
Towards fronting peril and opposed decay ! 

War. My gracious lord, you look beyond him 
quite : 
The prince but studies his companions 
Like a strange tongue, wherein, to gain the lan- 
guage, 
'T is needful that the most immodest word 70 

Be look'd upon and learn'd ; which once attained. 
Your highness knows, comes to no further use 
But to be known and hated. So, like gross terms, 
The prince will in the perfectness of time 
Cast off his followers ; and their memory 
Shall as a pattern or a measure live. 
By which his grace must mete the lives of others. 
Turning past evils to advantages. 

King. 'T is seldom when the bee doth leave her 
comb 
In the dead carrion. 



92 KING jHENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

Ewier^WESTMORELAND 

80 Who 's here ? Westmoreland ? 

West. Health to my sovereign, and new happi- 
ness 
Added to that that I am to deliver ! 
Prince John your son doth kiss your grace's hand : 
Mowbray, the Bishop Scroop, Hastings and all 
Are brought to the correction of your law ; 
There is not now a rebel's sword unsheathed, 
But Peace puts forth her olive every where. 
The manner how this action hath been borne 
Here at more leisure may your highness read, 
90 With every course in his particular. 

King. O Westmoreland, thou art a summer 
bird. 
Which ever in the haunch of winter sings 
The lifting up of day. 

Enter Harcourt 

Look, here 's more news. 
Har. From enemies heaven keep your majesty ; 
And, when they stand against you, may they fall 
As those that I am come to tell you of ! 
The Earl Northumberland and the Lord Bardolph, 
With a great power of English and of Scots, 
Are by the sheriff of Yorkshire overthrown : 
100 The manner and true order of the fight 
This packet, please it you, contains at large. 

King. And wherefore should these good news 
make me sick ? 
Will Fortune never come with both hands full, 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 93 

But write her fair words still in foulest letters ? 

She either gives a stomach and no food ; 

Such are the poor, in health ; or else a feast 

And takes away the stomach ; such are the rich, 

That have abundance and enjoy it not. 

I should rejoice now at this happy news ; 

And now my sight fails, and my brain is giddy : no 

O me ! come near me ; now I am much ill. 

Glou. Comfort, your majesty ! 

Clar, my royal father ! 

West. My sovereign lord, cheer up yourself, 
look up. 

War. Be patient, princes ; you do know, these 
fits 
Are with his highness very ordinary. 
Stand from him, give him air ; he '11 straight be well. 

Clar. No, no, he cannot long hold out these 
pangs : 
The incessant care and labour of his mind 
Hath wrought the mure that should confine it in 
So thin that life looks through and will break out. 120 

Glou. The people fear me ; for they do observe 
Unfather'd heirs and loathly births of nature : 
The seasons change their manners, as the year 
Had found some months asleep and leap'd them 
over. 

Clar. The river hath thrice fiow'd, no ebb 
between ; 
And the old folk, time's doting chronicles. 
Say it did so a little time before 
That our great-grandsire, Edward, sick'd and died. 

War. Speak lower, princes, for the king recovers. 



94 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

130 Glou. This apoplexy will certain be his end. 

King. I pray you, take me up, and bear me 
hence 
Into some other chamber : softly, pray. [Exeunt. 

Scene V — Another chamber 

The King lying on a bed: Claeence, Gloucester, 
Warwick, and others in attendance 

King. Let there be no noise made, my gentle 
friends ; 
Unless some dull and favourable hand 
Will whisper music to my weary spirit. 

War. Call for the music in the other room. 

King. Set me the crown upon my pillow here. 

Clar. His eye is hollow, and he changes much. 

War. Less noise, less noise ! 

Enter Prince Henry 

Prince. Who saw the Duke of Clarence ? 

Clar. I am here, brother, full of heaviness. 
Prince. How now ! rain within doors, and none 
abroad ! 
10 How doth the king ? 
Glou. Exceeding ill. 

Prince. Heard he the good news yet ? 

Tell it him. 

Glou. He alter'd much upon the hearing it. 
Prince. If he be sick with joy, he '11 recover 
without physic. 

War. Not so much noise, my lords ; sweet 
prince, speak low; 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 95 

The king your father is disposed to sleep. 

Clar. Let us withdraw into the other room. 

War. Will 't please your grace to go along with 
us? 

Prince. No; I will sit and watch here by the 
king. [Exeunt all but the Prince. 20 

Why doth the crown lie there upon his pillow, 
Being so troublesome a bedfellow ? 
O polish'd perturbation ! golden care ! 
That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide 
To many a watchful night ! sleep with it now ! 
Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet 
As he whose brow with homely biggen bound 
Snores out the watch of night. O majesty ! 
When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit 
Like a rich armour worn in heat of day, 30 

That scalds with safety. By his gates of breath 
There lies a downy feather which stirs not : 
Did he suspire, that light and weightless down 
Perforce must move. My gracious lord! my 

father ! 
This sleep is sound indeed ; this is a sleep 
That from this golden rigol hath divorced 
So many English kings. Thy due from me 
Is tears and heavy sorrows of the blood, 
Which nature, love, and filial tenderness, 
Shall, O dear father, pay thee plenteously : 40 

My due from thee is this imperial crown, 
Which, as immediate from thy place and blood, 
Derives itself to me. Lo, here it sits. 
Which God shall guard : and put the world's whole 
strength 



96 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

Into one giant arm, it shall not force 
This lineal honour from me : this from thee 
Will I to mine leave, as 't is left to me. [Exit. 

King. Warwick ! Gloucester ! Clarence ! 

Re-enter Warwick, Gloucester, Clarence, 
and the rest 

Clar. Doth the king call ? ' 

50 War. What would your majesty? How fares 
your grace ? 
King. Why did you leave me here alone, my 

lords ? 
Clar. We left the prince my brother here, my 
liege. 
Who undertook to sit and watch by you. 
King. The Prince of Wales ! Where is he ? let 
me see him : 
He is not here. 

War. This door is open ; he is gone this way. 
Glou. He came not through the chamber where 
we stay'd. ! 

King. Where is the crown .^^ who took it from 

my pillow ? 
War. When we withdrew, my liege, we left it 
here. 
60 King. The prince hath ta'en it hence : go, seek 
him out. 
Is he so hasty that he doth suppose 
My sleep my death ? 

Find him, my Lord of Warwick ; chide him hither. 

[Exit Warwick. 
This part of his conjoins with my disease. 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 97 

And helps to end me. See, sons, what things you 

are ! 
How quickly nature falls into revolt 
When gold becomes her object ! 
For this the foolish over-careful fathers 
Have broke their sleep with thoughts, their brains 

with care, 
Their bones with industry ; 7o 

For this they have engross'd and piled up 
The canker'd heaps of strange-achieved gold ; 
For this they have been thoughtful to invest 
Their sons with arts and martial exercises : 
When, like the bee, culling from every flower 
The virtuous sweets. 
Our thighs pack'd with wax, our mouths with 

honey, 
We bring it to the hive, and, like the bees. 
Are murdered for our pains. This bitter taste 
Yield his engrossments to the ending father. so 

Re-enter Warwick 

Now, where is he that will not stay so long 
Till his friend sickness hath determined me ? 

War. My lord, I found the prince in the next 
room. 
Washing with kindly tears his gentle cheeks. 
With such a deep demeanour in great sorrow 
That tyranny, which never quaff'd but blood. 
Would, by beholding him, have wash'd his knife 
With gentle eye-drops. He is coming hither. 

King. But wherefore did he take away the 
crown ? 



98 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

Re-enter Prince Henry 

90 Lo, where he comes. Come hither to me, Harry. 
Depart the chamber, leave us here alone. 

[Exeunt Warwick and the rest. 
Prince. I never thought to hear you speak again. 
King. Thy wish was father, Harry, to that 
thought : 
I stay too long by thee, I weary thee. 
Dost thou so hunger for mine empty chair 
That thou wilt needs invest thee with my honours 
Before thy hour be ripe ? O foolish youth ! 
Thou seek'st the greatness that will overwhelm thee. 
Stay but a little ; for my cloud of dignity 

100 Is held from falling with so weak a wind 
That it will quickly drop : my day is dim. 
Thou hast stolen that which after some few hours 
Were thine without offence ; and at my death 
Thou hast seal'd up my expectation : 
Thy life did manifest thou lovedst me not, 
And thou wilt have me die assured of it. 
Thou hidest a thousand daggers in thy thoughts. 
Which thou hast whetted on thy stony heart. 
To stab at half an hour of my life. 

110 What ! canst thou not forbear me half an hour ? 
Then get thee gone and dig my grave thyself. 
And bid the merry bells ring to thine ear 
That thou art crowned, not that I am dead. 
Let all the tears that should bedew my hearse 
Be drops of balm to sanctify thy head : 
Only compound me with forgotten dust ; 
Give that which gave thee life unto the worms. 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 99 

Pluck down my ojQficers, break my decrees ; 

For now a time is come to mock at form : 

Harry the Fifth is crown'd : up, vanity ! 120 

Down, royal state ! all you sage counsellors, hence ! 

And to the English court assemble now. 

From every region, apes of idleness ! 

Now, neighbour confines, purge you of your scum : 

Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance. 

Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit 

The oldest sins the newest kind of ways ? 

Be happy, he will trouble you no more ; 

England shall double gild his treble guilt, 

England shall give him office, honour, might ; 130 

For the fifth Harry from curb'd license plucks 

The muzzle of restraint, and the wild dog 

Shall flesh his tooth on every innocent. 

my poor kingdom, sick with civil blows ! 
When that my care could not withhold thy riots, 
What wilt thou do when riot is thy care ? 

O, thou wilt be a wilderness again. 
Peopled with wolves, thy old inhabitants ! 

Prince. O, pardon me, my liege ! but for my 
tears. 
The moist impediments unto my speech, 140 

1 had forestall'd this dear and deep rebuke 
Ere you with grief had spoke and I had heard 
The course of it so far. There is your crown ; 
And He that wears the crown immortally 
Long guard it yours ! If I affect it more 
Than as your honour and as your renown. 
Let me no more from this obedience rise. 
Which my most inward true and duteous spirit 



100 KING HENRY THE FOURTH (Act Fous 

Teacheth, this prostrate and exterior bending. 

150 God witness with me, when I here came in, 

And found no course of breath within your majesty, 
How cold it struck my heart ! If I do feign, 
O, let me in my present wildness die 
And never live to show the incredulous world 
The noble change that I have purposed ! 
Coming to look on you, thinking you dead, 
And dead almost, my liege, to think you were, 
I spake unto this crown as having sense. 
And thus upbraided it : "The care on thee depend- 
ing 

160 Hath fed upon the body of my father ; 

Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold : 
Other, less fine in carat, is more precious. 
Preserving life in medicine potable ; 
But thou, most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd, 
Hast eat thy bearer up." Thus, my most royal 

liege. 
Accusing it, I put it on my head. 
To try with it, as with an enemy 
That had before my face murder'd my father. 
The quarrel of a true inheritor. 

170 But if it did infect my blood with joy. 

Or swell my thoughts to any strain of pride ; 
If any rebel or vain spirit of mine 
Did with the least affection of a welcome 
Give entertainment to the might of it, 
Let God for ever keep it from my head 
And make me as the poorest vassal is 
That doth with awe and terror kneel to it ! 
King. O my son, 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 101 

God put it in thy mind to take it hence, 

That thou mightst win the more thy father's 

love, 180 

Pleading so wisely in excuse of it ! 
Come hither, Harry, sit thou by my bed ; 
And hear, I think, the very latest counsel 
That ever I shall breathe. God knows, my son. 
By what by-paths and indirect crook'd ways 
I met this crown ; and I myself know well 
How troublesome it sat upon my head. 
To thee it shall descend with better quiet, 
Better opinion, better confirmation ; 
For all the soil of the achievement goes 190 

With me into the earth. It seem'd in me 
But as an honour snatch'd with boisterous hand. 
And I had many living to upbraid 
My gain of it by their assistances ; 
Which daily grew to quarrel and to bloodshed, 
Wounding supposed peace : all these bold fears 
Thou see'st with peril I have answered ; 
For all my reign hath been but as a scene 
Acting that argument : and now my death 
Changes the mode ; for what in me was purchased, 200 
Falls upon thee in a more fairer sort ; 
So thou the garland wear'st successively. 
Yet, though thou stand'st more sure than I could 

do. 
Thou art not firm enough, since griefs are green ; 
And all my friends, which thou must make thy 

friends. 
Have but their stings and teeth newly ta'en out ; 
By whose fell working I was first advanced 



10^ KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

And by whose power I well might lodge a fear 
To be again displaced : which to avoid, 

210 1 cut them off ; and had a purpose now 
To lead out many to the Holy Land, 
Lest rest and lying still might make them look 
Too near unto my state. Therefore, my Harry, 
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds 
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne 

out. 
May waste the memory of the former days. 
More would I, but my lungs are wasted so 
That strength of speech is utterly denied me. 
How I came by the crown, O God forgive ; 

220 And grant it may with thee in true peace live ! 
Prince. My gracious liege. 
You won it, wore it, kept it, gave it me ; 
Then plain and right must my possession be : 
Which I with more than with a common pain 
'Gainst all the world will rightfully maintain. 

Enter Lord John of Lancaster 

King. Look, look, here comes my John of 

Lancaster. 
Lan. Health, peace, and happiness to my royal 

father ! 
King. Thou bring'st me happiness and peace, 
son John; 
But health, alack, with youthful wings is flown 
230 From this bare wither'd trunk : upon thy sight 
My worldly business makes a period. 
Where is my Lord of Warwick ? 

Prince. My Lord of Warwick ! 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 103 

Re-enter Warwick, and others 

King. Doth any name particular belong 
Unto the lodging where I first did swoon ? 

War. 'T is call'd Jerusalem, my noble lord. 

King. Laud be to God ! even there my life must 
end. 
It hath been prophesied to me many years, 
I should not die but in Jerusalem ; 
Which vainly I supposed the Holy Land : 
But bear me to that chamber ; there I '11 lie ; 240 

In that Jerusalem shall Harry die. [Exeunt. 



ACT V 

Scene I — Gloucestershire. Shallow's house 
Enter Shallow, Falstaff, Bardolph, and Page 

Shal. By cock and pie, sir, you shall not away 
to-night. What, Davy, I say ! 

Fal. You must excuse me, Master Robert 
Shallow. 

Shal. I will not excuse you ; you shall not be 

excused; excuses shall not be admitted; there is 

no excuse shall serve; you shall not be excused. 

Why, Davy ! 

Enter Davy 

Davy. Here, sir. 

Shal. Davy, Davy, Davy, Davy, let me see, lo 
Davy ; let me see, Davy ; let me see : yea, marry, 
William cook, bid him come hither. Sir John, 
you shall not be excused. 



104 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Davy. Marry, sir, thus; those precepts can- 
not be served : and, again, sir, shall we sow the 
headland with wheat ? 

Shot. With red wheat, Davy. But for Wil- 
liam cook : are there no young pigeons ? 

Davy. Yes, sir. Here is now the smith's note 
20 for shoeing and plough-irons. 

Shal. Let it be cast and paid. Sir John, you 
shall not be excused. 

Davy. Now, sir, a new link to the bucket 
must needs be had : and, sir, do you mean to stop 
any of William's wages, about the sack he lost 
the other day at Hinckley fair ^ 

Shot. A' shall answer it. Some pigeons, Davy, 
a couple of short-legged hens, a joint of mutton, 
and any pretty little tiny kickshaws, tell William 
30 cook. 

Davy. Doth the man of war stay all night, sir ? 

Shot. Yea, Davy. I will use him well : a 
friend i' the court is better than a penny in purse. 
Use his men well, Davy; for they are arrant 
knaves, and will backbite. 

Davy. No worse than they are backbitten, 
sir; for they have marvellous foul linen. 

Shal. Well conceited, Davy: about thy busi- 
4oness, Davy. 

Davy. I beseech you, sir, to countenance 
William Visor of Woncot against Clement Perkes 
of the hill. 

Shot. There is many complaints, Davy, against 
that Visor : that Visor is an arrant knave, on my 
knowledge. 



Scene One] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 105 

Davy. I grant your worship that he is a 
knave, sir ; but yet, God forbid, sir, but a knave 
should have some countenance at his friend's 
request. An honest man, sir, is able to speak for so 
himself, when a knave is not. I have served your 
worship truly, sir, this eight years; and if I 
cannot once or twice in a quarter bear out a knave 
against an honest man, I have but a very little credit 
with your worship. The knave is mine honest 
friend, sir : therefore, I beseech your worship, let 
him be countenanced. 

Shot. Go to; I say he shall have no wrong. 
Look about, Davy. [Exit Davy,] Where are 
you. Sir John? Come, come, come, off witheo 
your boots. Give me your hand. Master Bar- 
dolph. 

Bard. I am glad to see your worship. 
Shot. I thank thee with all my heart, kind 
Master Bardolph : and welcome, my tall fellow 
[to the Page]. Come, Sir John. 

Fat. I '11 follow you, good Master Robert 
Shallow. [Exit Shallow.] Bardolph, look to 
our horses. [Exeunt Bardolph and Page.] If 
I were sawed into quantities, I should make four 70 
dozen of such bearded hermits' staves as Master 
Shallow. It is a wonderful thing to see the sem- 
blable coherence of his men's spirits and his : they, 
by observing of him, do bear themselves like 
foolish justices; he, by conversing with them, is 
turned into a justice-like serving-man : their spirits 
are so married in conjunction with the participa- 
tion of society that they flock together in consent, 



106 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

like so many wild-geese. If I had a suit to Mas- 
soter Shallow, I would humour his men with the 
imputation of being near their master : if to his 
men, I would curry with Master Shallow that no 
man could better command his servants. It is 
certain that either wise bearing or ignorant car- 
riage is caught, as men take diseases, one of 
another : therefore let men take heed of their 
company. I will devise matter enough out of 
this Shallow to keep Prince Harry in continual 
laughter the wearing out of six fashions, which is 
90 four terms, or two actions, and a' shall laugh 
without inter Valiums. O, it is much that a lie 
with a slight oath and a jest with a sad brow will 
do with a fellow that never had the ache in his 
shoulders ! O, you shall see him laugh till his 
face be like a wet cloak ill laid up ! 
Shot. [Within] Sir John ! 

Fal. I come, Master Shallow; I come, Master 
Shallow. [Exit 

Scene II — Westminster. The palace 

Enter Warwick and the Lord Chief-Justice, 
meeting 

War. How now, my lord chief -justice ! whither 

away ? 
Ch. Just. How doth the king ? 
War. Exceeding well; his cares are now all 

ended. 
Ch. Just. I hope, not dead. 
War. He 's walk'd the way of nature ; 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 107 

And to our purposes he lives no more. 

Ch. Just. I would his majesty had calFd me 
with him : 
The service that I truly did his life 
Hath left me open to all injuries. 

War. Indeed I think the young king loves you 

not. 
Ch. Just. I know he doth not, and do arm 
myself lo 

To welcome the condition of the time, 
Which cannot look more hideously upon me 
Than I have drawn it in my fantasy. 

Enter Lancaster, Clarence, Gloucester, 
Westmoreland, and others 

War. Here come the heavy issue of dead 
Harry : 
O that the living Harry had the temper 
Of him, the worst of these three gentlemen ! 
How many nobles then should hold their places, 
That must strike sail to spirits of vile sort ! 

Ch. Just. O God, I fear all will be overturned ! 

Lan. Good morrow, cousin Warwick, good 
morrow. 20 

Glou.\ 

'•] 
Lan. We meet like men that had forgot to 

i ^ speak. Wi 

War. We do remember ; but our argument 

Is all too heavy to admit much talk. 

Lan. Well, peace be with him that hath made 

\us heavy ! 



^^ , Good morrow, cousin. 
Ciar. 



108 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Ch. Just. Peace be with us, lest we be heavier ! 
Glou. O, good my lord, you have lost a friend 
indeed ; 
And I dare swear you borrow not that face 
Of seeming sorrow, it is sure your own. 
30 Lan. Though no man be assured what grace to 
find, 
You stand in coldest expectation : 
I am the sorrier ; would 't were otherwise. 

Clar. Well, you must now speak Sir John 
Falstaff fair; 
Which swims against your stream of quality. 

Ch. Just. Sweet princes, what I did, I did in 
honour. 
Led by the impartial conduct of my soul ; 
And never shall you see that I will beg 
A ragged and forestall'd remission. 
If truth and upright innocency fail me, 
40 1 '11 to the king my master that is dead, 
And tell him who hath sent me after him. 
War. Here comes the prince. 

Enter King Henry the Fifth, attended 

Ch. Just. Good morrow; and God save your 

majesty ! 
King. This new and gorgeous garment, ma- 
jesty. 
Sits not so easy on me as you think. 
Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear : 
This is the English, not the Turkish court ; 
Not Amurath an Amurath succeeds, 
But Harry Harry. Yet be sad, good brothers, 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 109 

For, by my faith, it very well becomes you : 60 

Sorrow so royally in you appears 

That I will deeply put the fashion on 

And wear it in my heart : why then, be sad ; 

But entertain no more of it, good brothers, 

Than a joint burden laid upon us all. 

For me, by heaven, I bid you be assured, 

I '11 be your father and your brother too ; 

Let me but bear your love, I '11 bear your cares : 

Yet weep that Harry 's dead ; and so will I ; 

But Harry lives, that shall convert those tears 6o 

By number into hours of happiness. 

Princes. We hope no other from your majesty. 

King. You all look strangely on me : and you 
most; 
You are, I think, assured I love you not. 

Ch. Just. I am assured, if I be measured rightly. 
Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me. 

King. No ! 
How might a prince of my great hopes forget 
So great indignities you laid upon me ? 
What ! rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison 7o 
The immediate heir of England ! Was this easy ? 
May this be wash'd in Lethe, and forgotten ? 

Ch. Just. I then did use the person of your 
father ; 
The image of his power lay then in me : 
And, in the administration of his law, 
Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth. 
Your highness pleased to forget my place. 
The majesty and power of law and justice, 
The image of the king whom I presented, 



110 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

80 And struck me in my very seat of judgement ; 
Whereon, as an offender to your father, 
I gave bold way to my authority 
And did commit you. If the deed were ill. 
Be you contented, wearing now the garland. 
To have a son set your decrees at nought. 
To pluck down justice from your awful bench. 
To trip the course of law and blunt the sword 
That guards the peace and safety of your person ; 
Nay, more, to spurn at your most royal image 

90 And mock your workings in a second body. 
Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours ; 
Be now the father and propose a son. 
Hear your own dignity so much profaned. 
See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted. 
Behold yourself so by a son disdain'd ; 
And then imagine me taking your part 
And in your power soft silencing your son : 
After this cold considerance, sentence me ; 
And, as you are a king, speak in your state 

100 What I have done that misbecame my place. 
My person, or my liege's sovereignty. 

King. You are right, justice, and you weigh 
this well; 
Therefore still bear the balance and the sword : 
And I do wish your honours may increase. 
Till you do live to see a son of mine 
Offend you and obey you, as I did. 
So shall I live to speak my father's words : 
" Happy am I, that have a man so bold. 
That dares do justice on my proper son ; 

110 And not less happy, having such a son. 



Scene Two] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 111 

That would deliver up his greatness so 

Into the hands of justice." You did commit me : 

For which, I do commit into your hand i 

The unstained sword that you have used to bear ; 

With this remembrance, that you use the same 

With the like bold, just and impartial spirit 

As you have done 'gainst me. There is my hand. 

You shall be as a father to my youth : 

My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear, 

And I will stoop and humble my intents 120 

To your well-practised wise directions. 

And, princes all, believe me, I beseech you ; 

My father is gone wild into his grave, 

For in his tomb lie my affections ; 

And with his spirit sadly I survive. 

To mock the expectation of the world, 

To frustrate prophecies and to raze out 

Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down 

After my seeming. The tide of blood in me 

Hath proudly flow'd in vanity till now : 130 

Now doth it turn and ebb back to the sea. 

Where it shall mingle with the state of floods 

And flow henceforth in formal majesty. 

Now call we our high court of parliament : 

And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel. 

That the great body of our state may go 

In equal rank with the best govern'd nation ; 

That war, or peace, or both at once, may be 

As things acquainted and familiar to us ; 

In which you, father, shall have foremost hand. i4o 

Our coronation done, we will accite, 

As I before remember'd, all our state : 



m KING HEXRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

And, God consigning to my good intents, 

No prince nor peer shall have just cause to say, 

God shorten Harry's happy life one day ! [Exeunt. 

Scene HI — Gloucestershire. Shallow's 
orchard 

Enter Falstaff, Shallow, Silexce, Davy, 
Babdolph, arid the Page 

Shal. Nay, you shall see my orchard, where, 
in an arbour, we will eat a last year's pippin 
of my own graffirig, with a dish of caraways, 
and so forth : come, cousin Silence : and then 
to bed. 

Fal. 'Fore God, you have here a goodly dwell- 
ing and a rich. 

Shal. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, 
beggars all. Sir John : marr^', good air. Spread, 
10 Daw ; spread, Da^y : well said, Davy. 

Fal. This Da^-y- serves you for good uses; 
he is your ser^Tag-man and your husband. 

Shal. A good varlet, a good varlet, a very 
good varlet, Sir John : by the mass, I have 
drunk too much sack at supper : a good varlet. 
Now sit down, now sit down : come, cousin. 
Sil. Ah, sirrah ! quoth-a, we shall 

Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer, 

[Singing. 
And praise God for the merry year ; 
20 When flesh is cheap and females dear. 

And lusty lads roam here and there 

So merrily, 
And ever amons so merrily. 



Scene Theee] KING HEXRY THE FOURTH 113 

Fah There 's a merry heart ! Good Master 
Silence, I '11 give you a health for that anon. 

Shal. Give Master Bardolph some wine, 
Davy. 

Davy. Sweet sir, sit ; I '11 be with you anon ; 
most sweet sir, sit. Master page, good master 
page, sit. Proface ! T\Tiat you want in meat, at 
we 'U have in drink : but you must bear ; the 
heart's aU. [Exit. 

Shal. Be merry. Master Bardolph; and, my 
little soldier there, be merry. 

Sil. Be merry, be merry, my wife has all ; 

[Singing. 
For women are shrews, both short and tall : 
'T is merry in hall when beards wag all, 

And welcome merry Shrove-tide. 
Be merry, be merry. 
Fal. I did not think Master Silence had been4o 
a man of this mettle. 

Sil. Who, I? I have been merry twice and 
once ere now. 

Re-enter Davy 

Davy. There 's a dish of leather-coats for you. 

[To Bardolph. 
Shal. Davy ! 

Davy. Your worship ! I '11 be with you straight 
[to Bardolph]. A cup of wine, sir.'^ 

Sil. A cup of wine that 's brisk and fine, 

[Singing. 
And drink unto the leman mine ; 

And a merry heart lives long-a. so 

Fal. Well said, Master Silence. 



114 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Sil. An we shall be merry, now comes in the 
sweet o' the night. 

Fal. Health and long life to you, Master 
Silence. 

Sil. Fill the cup, and let it come ; [Singing. 

I '11 pledge you a mile to the bottom. 
Shal. Honest Bardolph, welcome : if thou 
wantest any thing, and wilt not call, beshrew thy 
60 heart. Welcome, my little tiny thief [to the Page], 
and welcome indeed too. I '11 drink to Master 
Bardolph, and to all the cavaleros about London. 
Davy. I hope to see London once ere I die. 
Bard. An I might see you there, Davy, — 
Shal. By the mass, you '11 crack a quart to- 
gether, ha ! will you not. Master Bardolph ? 
Bard. Yea, sir, in a pottle-pot. 
Shal. By God's liggens, I thank thee : the 
70 knave will stick by thee, I can assure thee that. 
A' will not out ; he is true bred. 
Bard. And I '11 stick by him, sir. 
Shal. Why, there spoke a king. Lack no- 
thing : be merry. [Knocking within.] Look 
who 's at door there, ho ! who knocks ? [Exit Davy. 
Fal. Why, now you have done me right. 

[To Silence, seeing him take off a bumper. 
Sil. Do me right, [Singing. 

And dub me knight : 
Samingo. 
80 Is 't not so ? 
Fal. 'T is so. 

Sil. Is 't so ? Why then, say an old man can 
do somewhat. 



Scene Three] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 115 

Re-enter Davy 

Davy. An't please your worship, there's one 
Pistol come from the court with news. 
Fal. From the court ! let him come in. 

Enter Pistol 
How now. Pistol ! 

Pist. Sir John, God save you ! 

Fal. What wind blew you hither. Pistol ? 

Pist. Not the ill wind which blows no man to 90 
good. Sweet knight, thou art now one of the 
greatest men in this realm. 

Sil. By 'r lady, I think a' be, but goodman 
Puff of Barson. 

Pist. Puff ! 
Puff in thy teeth, most recreant coward base ! 
Sir John, I am thy Pistol and thy friend, 
And helter-skelter have I rode to thee. 
And tidings do I bring and lucky joys 
And golden times and happy news of price. 100 

Fal. I pray thee now, deliver them like a man 
of this world. 

Pist. A foutre for the world and worldlings 
base ! 
I speak of Africa and golden joys. 

Fal. O base Assyrian knight, what is thy news ? 
Let King Cophetua know the truth thereof. 

Sil. And Robin Hood, Scarlet, and John. 

[Singing. 

Pist. Shall dunghill curs confront the Helicons ? 
And shall good news be baffled ? 
Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Furies' lap. 110 



116 KTNG HENRY THE FOIJETH [Act Five 

Shot. Honest gentleman, I know not your 
breeding. 

Pist. Why then, lament therefore. 

Shal. Give me pardon, sir : if, sir, you come 
with news from the court, I take it there 's but 
two ways, either to utter them, or to conceal 
them. I am, sir, under the king, in some 
authority. 

Pist. Under which king, Besonian.^^ speak, or 
die. 
120 Shal. Under King Harry. 

Pist. Harry the Fourth ? or Fifth ? 

Shal. Harry the Fourth. 

Pist. A foutre for thine ojQfice ! 

Sir John, thy tender lambkin now is king ; 
Harry the Fifth 's the man. I speak the truth : 
When Pistol lies, do this ; and ^g me, like 
The bragging Spaniard. 

Fal. What, is the old king dead .? 

Pist. As nail in door : the things I speak are 
just. 

Fal. Away, Bardolph ! saddle my horse. 
Master Robert Shallow, choose what office thou 
130 wilt in the land, 't is thine. Pistol, I will double- 
charge thee with dignities. 

Bard. O joyful day ! 
I would not take a knighthood for my fortune. 

Pist. What ! I do bring good news. 

Fal. Carry Master Silence to bed. Master 
Shallow, my Lord Shallow, — be what thou wilt ; 
I am fortune's steward — get on thy boots : we '11 
ride all night. O sweet Pistol ! Away, Bardolph ! 



Scene Four] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 117 

[Exit Bard.] Come, Pistol, utter more to me; 
and withal devise something to do thyself good. 140 
Boot, boot. Master Shallow : I know the young 
king is sick for me. Let us take any man's 
horses ; the laws of England are at my command- 
ment. Blessed are they that have been my 
friends ; and woe to my lord chief -justice ! 

Pist. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs also ! 
"Where is the life that late I led?" say they : 
Why, here it is ; welcome these pleasant days ! 

[Exeunt, 

Scene IV — London. A street 

Enter Beadles, dragging in Hostess Quickly 
and Doll Teaesheet 

Host. No, thou arrant knave ; I would to God 
that I might die, that I might have thee hanged : 
thou hast drawn my shoulder out of joint. 

First Bead. The constables have delivered 
her over to me; and she shall have whipping- 
cheer enough, I warrant her : there hath been a 
man or two lately killed about her. 

Dot. Nut-hook, nut-hook, you lie. Come on; 
I '11 tell thee what, thou damned tripe-visaged 
rascal, an the child I now go with do miscarry, 
thou wert better thou hadst struck thy mother, 
thou paper-faced villain. lo 

Host. O the Lord, that Sir John were come ! 
he would make this a bloody day to somebody. 
But I pray God the fruit of her womb miscarry ! 

First Bead. If it do, you shall have a dozen 
of cushions again; you have but eleven now. 



118 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Come, I charge you both go with me; for the 
man is dead that you and Pistol beat amongst you. 
20 Dot. I 'U tell you what, you thin man in a 
censer, I will have you as soundly swinged for 
this, — you blue-bottle rogue, you filthy famished 
correctioner, if you be not swinged, I '11 forswear 
half-kirtles. 

First Bead. Come, come, you she knight-errant, 
come. 

Host. O God, that right should thus overcome 
might ! Well, of sufferance comes ease. 

Dol. Come, you rogue, come; bring me to a 
30 justice. 

Host. Ay, come, you starved blood-hound. 

Dol. Goodman death, goodman bones ! 

Host. Thou atomy, thou ! 

Dol. Come, you thin thing ; come, you rascal. 

First Bead. Very well. [Exeunt. 

Scene V — A public place near Westminster 
Abbey 

Enter two Grooms, strewing rushes 

First Groom. More rushes, more rushes. 
Sec. Groom. The trumpets have sounded twice. 
First Groom. 'T will be two o'clock ere they 
come from the coronation : dispatch, dispatch. 

[Exeunt. 

Enter Falstaff, Shallow, Pistol, Bardolph, 
and Page 

Fal. Stand here by me, Master Robert Shallow ; 
I will make the king do you grace : I will 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 119 

leer upon him as a' comes by; and do but mark 
the countenance that he will give me. 

Pist. God bless thy lungs, good knight. 

Fat. Come here, Pistol ; stand behind me. O, lo 
if I had had time to have made new liveries, 
I would have bestowed the thousand pound I 
borrowed of you. But 't is no matter ; this poor 
show doth better : this doth infer the zeal I had 
to see him. 

Shot. It doth so. 

FaL It shows my earnestness of affection, — 

Shot. It doth so. 

Fat. My devotion, — 

Shot. It doth, it doth, it doth. 20 

Fal. As it were, to ride day and night; and 
not to deliberate, not to remember, not to have 
patience to shift me, — 

Shot. It is best, certain. 

Fal. But to stand stained with travel, and 
sweating with desire to see him; thinking of no- 
thing else, putting all affairs else in oblivion, as 
if there were nothing else to be done but to see 
him. 

Pist. 'T is "semper idem," for "obsque hoc 30 
nihil est " : 't is all in every part. 

Shot. 'T is so, indeed. 

Pist. My knight, I will inflame thy noble liver. 
And make thee rage. 

Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts. 
Is in base durance and contagious prison ; 
Haled thither 
By most mechanical and dirty hand : 



no KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Rouse up revenge from ebon den with fell Alecto's 
snake, 
40 For Doll is in. Pistol speaks nought but truth. 
Fal. I will deliver her. 

[Shouts within, and the trumpets sound. 
Pist, There roar'd the sea, and trumpet-clangor 
sounds. 

Enter the King and his train, the Lord Chief- 
Justice among them 

Fal. God save thy grace, King Hal ! my royal 
Hal! 

Pist. The heavens thee guard and keep, most 
royal imp of fame ! 

Fal. God save thee, my sweet boy ! 

King. My lord chief -justice, speak to that vain 

man. 
Ch. Just. Have you your wits ? know you what 
't is you speak ? 
50 Fal. My king ! my Jove ! I speak to thee, my 
heart ! 
King. I know thee not, old man : fall to thy 
prayers ; 
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester ! 
I have long dream'd of such a kind of man, 
So surfeit-sweird, so old and so profane ; 
But, being awaked, I do despise my dream. 
Make less thy body hence, and more thy grace ; 
Leave gormandizing ; know the grave doth gape 
For thee thrice wider than for other men. 
Reply not to me with a fool-born jest : 
60 Presume not that I am the thing I was ; 



Scene Five] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 121 

For God doth know, so shall the world perceive, 

That I have turn'd away my former self ; 

So will I those that kept me company. 

When thou dost hear I am as I have been, 

Approach me, and thou shalt be as thou wast. 

The tutor and the feeder of my riots : 

Till then, I banish thee, on pain of death. 

As I have done the rest of my misleaders. 

Not to come near our person by ten mile. 

For competence of life I will allow you, 70 

That lack of means enforce you not to evil : 

And, as we hear you do reform yourselves. 

We will, according to your strengths and qualities. 

Give you advancement. Be it your charge, my 

lord. 
To see performed the tenour of our word. 
Set on. [Exeunt King, etc. 

Fat. Master Shallow, I owe you a thousand 
pound. 

Shal. Yea, marry. Sir John; which I beseech 
you to let me have home with me. so 

Fat, 'That can hardly be. Master Shallow. 
Do not you grieve at this; I shall be sent for in 
private to him : look you, he must seem thus to 
the world : fear not your advancements ; I will be 
the man yet that shall make you great. 

Shot. I cannot well perceive how, unless you 
should give me your doublet and stuff me out 
with straw. I beseech you, good Sir John, let 
me have five hundred of my thousand. 

Fal, Sir, I will be as good as my word : 90 
this that you heard was but a colour. 



122 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

Shal. A colour that I fear you will die in, Sir 
John. 

Fal. Fear no colours : go with me to dinner : 
come, Lieutenant Pistol ; come, Bardolph : I 
shall be sent for soon at night. 

Re-enter Prince John, the Lord Chief- Justice ; 
Officers with them 

Ch. Just. Go, carry Sir John Falstaff to the 
Fleet : 
Take all his company along with him. 
Fal. My lord, my lord, — 
100 Ch. Just. I cannot now speak : I will hear you 
soon. 
Take them away. 

Pist. Si fortuna me tormenta, spero contenta. 
[Exeunt all but Prince John and the 

Chief -Justice. 
Lan. I like this fair proceeding of the king's : 
He hath intent his wonted followers 
Shall all be very well provided for ; 
But all are banish'd till their conversations 
Appear more wise and modest to the world. 
Ch. Just. And so they are. 
Lan. The king hath calFd his parliament, my 
lord. 
110 Ch. Just. He hath. 

Lan. I will lay odds that, ere this year expire. 
We bear our civil swords and native fire 
As far as France : I heard a bird so sing, 
Whose music, to my thinking, pleased the king. 
Come, will you hence ? [Exeunt. 



Epilogue] KING HENRY THE FOURTH 123 

EPILOGUE 

Spoken by a Dancer 

First my fear; then my courtesy; last my 
speech. My fear is, your displeasure; my cour- 
tesy, my duty; and my speech, to beg your 
pardons. If you look for a good speech now, you 
undo me : for what I have to say is of mine own 
making; and what indeed I should say will, I 
doubt, prove mine own marring. But to the pur- 
pose, and so to the venture. Be it known to you, 
as it is very well, I was lately here in the end of 
a displeasing play, to pray your patience for itio 
and to promise you a better. I meant indeed to 
pay you with this ; which, if like an ill venture it 
come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle 
creditors, lose. Here I promised you I would be 
and here I commit my body to your mercies : bate 
me some and I will pay you some and, as most 
debtors do, promise you infinitely. 

If my tongue cannot entreat you to acquit me, 
will you command me to use my legs? and yet 
that were but light payment, to dance out of your 20 
debt. But a good conscience will make any pos- 
sible satisfaction, and so would I. All the gentle- 
women here have forgiven me : if the gentlemen 
will not, then the gentlemen do not agree with 
the gentlewomen, which was never seen before 
in such an assembly. 

One word more, I beseech you. If you be not 
too much cloyed with fat meat, our humble author 
will continue the story, with Sir John in it, and 



124 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Epilogue 

30 make you merry with fair Katharine of France : 
where, for any thing I know, FalstafI shall die of 
a sweat, unless already a' be killed with your hard 
opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is 
not the man. My tongue is weary ; when my legs 
are too, I will bid you good night : and so kneel 
down before you; but, indeed, to pray for the 
queen. 



NOTES 

For the meaning of words not given in these notes, the student is 
referred to the Glossary at the end of the volume. 

The numbering of the lines corresponds to that of the Globe 
edition ; this applies also to the scenes in prose. 

INDUCTION 

Warhworth. Holinshed says : " The king, comming forward 
quicklie, wan the castell of Warworth. Whereupon the Earle of 
Northumberland, not thinking himself in suertie at Berwicke, fled 
with the lord Berdolfe into Scotland, where they were received of 
David, lord Fleming." 

Enter Rumour, painted full of tongues. On the Elizabethan 
stage the costuming was often far more elaborate than the scenery, 
and " Rumour " would be very magnificently represented, in all 
probability with considerable artistic ingenuity. The conception 
is ultimately from Virgil {Mneid, iv, 181-183) : 

" Tot vigiles oculi subter, mirabile dictu. 
Tot linguae ; totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit auris." 

2. vent of hearing, aperture or opening for hearing. 

3. drooping west, west, where the sun sets. 

4. Making the wind my post-horse. Cf . Macbeth, i. 7. 22-23 : 

" heaven's cherubim, horsed 
Upon the sightless couriers of the air." 

12. fearful musters, men called together in the fear caused by 
rumor. 

13. hig year, pregnant, likely to give birth to war. Cf . Sonnet, 
xcvii : " The teeming autumn, big with rich increase." 

17. so plain a stop, so simple and rough an instrument ; " rumour 
is a fife " upon which even the multitude can play. 

19. still-discordant, always discordant and divided. 

21. anatomize, lay open, interpret or explain. Cf. King Lear, 
iii. 6. 80-81 : " Then let them anatomize Regan ; see what breeds 
about her heart." 

125 



126 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

24. Shrewsbury, the battle of Shrewsbury. 

28. to speak, in speaking. 

29. Harry Monmouth. So-called because he was born at Mon- 
mouth. Cf. Henry V, iv. 7. 23-41, where Fluellen compares him 
with Alexander the Great because the one was born at Macedon 
and the other at Monmouth. 

31. before the Douglas' rage. " Rumour " was less mistaken 
than usual because Douglas had killed several who were wearing 
the " wardrobe " of the king in order to appear like him. 

35. hold, stronghold. 

ragged stone, rugged stone. Cf. Spenser, Faerie Queene, i. 9. 
34, " the ragged rocky knees." 

37. crafty-sick. According to Shakespeare's version, Northum- 
berland feigns sickness in order to avoid joining in the rebellion 
which he had encouraged and helped to raise ; there is nothing of 
this in Holinshed. 

tiring on; probably means riding hard without a pause. 

ACT I — SCENE 1 

8. stratagem, strange or wonderful deed. I 

9. contention, civil war. 

15. in the fortune of, by the hand of. 

16. both the Blunts. One of the Blunts was killed by Douglas 
(Part I, Act v, sc. 4). 

19. the hulk Sir John. This separate mention of Falstaff as a 
prisoner certainly does suggest that he was a noted person. Of 
course in Shakespeare's original version Oldcastle would be one of 
the chief people in the realm. 

21. so follow' d, followed with such stern resistance. 

30. over-rode him, overtook him. 

31. furnish'd with no certainties . . . , knows nothing certainly 
except what he has learned from me. 

37. forspent, exhausted. The prefix /or is generally used as an 
intensive in a bad sense, as in forget. 
63. silken point, the tagged lace supporting the hose. 

56. instances of loss, proofs of loss and fear. 

57. hilding fellow, base fellow, a groom or servant. Cf. Cym^ 
beline, ii. 3. 128-129 : 

" A hilding for a livery, a squire's cloth, 
A pantler, not so eminent." 



Scene One] NOTES 127 

63. a witnessed usurpation, witnesses of its usurpation. Shake- 
speare may be referring either to rivers or to the sea, probably to 
the latter, for which he often employs the adjective " imperious." 
Cf. iii. 1. 20, " In cradle of the rude imperious surge." 

66. put on his ugliest mask. In the Mystery plays Death was 
represented with a mask ; the personification of abstract characters 
came easily to the Elizabethans as they were already accustomed to 
them in the religious drama. 

84. suspicion, apprehension or fear. 

86. Hath by instinct . . . Instinct makes him understand 
the meaning of a look or a single expression. 

101. a losing office, an unwelcome office which brings him nothing 
but loss. 

102. sullen bell. Cf . Sonnet Ixxi : 

" No longer mourn for me when I am dead 
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell." 

108. Rendering faint quittance, replying only with faint sword- 
strokes. 

112. In few, in few words ; briefly. 

115. best-temper' d, finest and most highly wrought. 

118-120. Turn'd on themselves. . . . Hotspur's high-tempered 
courage seems to steel the hearts of all the rest; but, his courage 
being " abated " or tamed by death, the rest become no better 
than lead, dull and heavy, with an edge easily turned. Moreover, 
they are so heavy that, the impetus of fiight being once given them 
by their fear, they fiy with the greater speed. 

128. Three times slain. Henry IV, with his usual politic 
cunning, caused several of his followers to be disguised like himself. 
Cf . Part I, V. 3. 25, where Hotspur says, " The king hath many 
marching in his coats," and Douglas replies, " I'll murder all his 
wardrobe, piece by piece. Until I meet the king." Holinshed, 
however, says that there were four who were slain in likeness of 
the king. " The earle Douglas . . . slue Sir Walter Blunt, and 
three other, apparelled in the king's suit and clothing." 

129. 'Gan vail his stomach, humbled his pride; stomach here 
means either pride or courage. 

did grace the shame. Douglas took to flight himself and, 
in so doing, seemed to lend some touch of grace to the flight of the 
rest. 

138. having been well. This phrase goes with the pronoun 
me, i.e. " had I been well this news would have made me sick." 



nS KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

140-141. joints . . . hucfde under life, his joints give way 
beneath him when he tries to move. 

142. impatient of his fit, made impatient by the sudden onslaught 
of his fever. Cf. Macbeth, iii. 4. 21, " Then comes my fit again." 

145. Are thrice themselves. Northumberland compares him- 
self to a man who is really weak from fever, but who, seized with 
delirium, becomes three times as strong as he would normally be. 

nice crutch, weak or eflFeminate crutch. 

147. sickly quoif, the invalid's head-bandage or nightcap. 
Quoif usually means a cap or headdress. Cf. The Winter's Tale, 
iv. 4. 226, " Golden quoifs and stomachers." 

149. flesh'd with conquest, made fierce with conquest as dogs 
are made fierce with eating flesh. 

161. ragged'st, roughest and most trying. 

156. to feed contention in a lingering act, to drag out civil wars 
at length. 

160. darkness be the burier of the dead. There will be none 
left alive to inter the dead, and primeval darkness alone will 
cover them. 

161. strained passion, overstrained grief. 

166. you cast the event of war, you risked this issue. The 
metaphor is from the casting of dice. 

168. It was your presurmise, you knew beforehand that there 
was the possibility. 

169. dole of blows, dealing out of blows. 

174. where most trade of danger ranged, where danger was 
chiefly to be found. Cf. Hotspmr's own speech (Part I, i. 3. 195) : 

" Send danger from the east unto the west. 
So honour cross it from the north to south. 
And let them grapple." 

177. stiff-borne, stoutly contested. 

180. engaged to this loss, involved in this loss. 

182. wrought out life, escaped with our lives. 

184. Choked the respect, prevented the consideration. The 
word " choke " in Shakespeare seems often to have the sense of 
destroying after a struggle. Cf . Macbeth, i. 2. 8-9 : 

" As two spent swimmers, that do cling together 
And choke their art." 

192. the corpse; plural for " corpses," here used in the sense 
of living but " spiritless " bodies, — men whose souls are not in 
what they do. 



Scene Two] NOTES nO 

196. queasiness, qualms and nausea. 

204-205. doth enlarge . . . King Richard. He gets more men 
to follow him because he claims to be the avenger of Richard II. 

205. Pomfret stones. In Richard II Shakespeare describes the 
murder of the king in Pomfret Castle. The idea that the blood of 
Richard would exact vengeance haunted both Henry IV and his 
son. The latter is afraid of losing the battle of Agincourt because 
of it {Henry F, iv. 1. 309-317:) 

" Not to-day, O Lord, 
O, not to-day, think not upon the fault 
My father made in compassing the crown ! 
I Richard's body have interred new ; 
And on it have bestow'd more contrite tears 
Than from it issued forced drops of blood : 
Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay. 
Who twice a-day their wither'd hands hold up 
Toward heaven, to pardon blood." 

207. bestride a bleeding land, stand over the land in order to 
defend it. So Falstaff entreats the Prince (Part I, v. 1. 121-122) : 
" Hal, if thou see me down in the battle and bestride me, so ; 'tis 
a point of friendship " ; and the Prince answers : " Nothing but a 
colossus can do thee that friendship." 

209. more or less, people of all ranks, high and low. 

SCENE 2 

1. you giant; in humorous allusion to the small size of the page. 
So Viola speaks of the tiny Maria : " Some mollification for your 
giant, sweet lady " {Twelfth Night, i. 5. 218-219). 

5. owed it, owned or possessed it. 

8-9. foolish-compounded clay, man, man who is but clay and 
foolish clay at that. 

17. mandrake; the atropa mandragora, whose root was supposed 
to resemble a human figure and to shriek when torn from the ground ; 
hence " mandrake " became a term of ridicule for anyone diminu- 
tive, or effeminate. It is applied to Justice Shallow (iii. 2. 339). 
The mandrake was also supposed to have magic properties and 
was often used by witches. Cf. Ben Jonson's Masque of Queens: 
" I last night lay all alone o' the ground, to hear the mandrake 
groan," 

18-19. manned with an agate, attended by one as small as an 
image cut in agate. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, i. 4. 53-56: 



130 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

" I see Queen Mab hath been with you 
. . . she comes 
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone 
On the fore-finger of an alderman." 

28. face-royal, the face stamped on a " royal " or ten-shilling 
piece. 

34. slops, loose breeches. 

37. barui, bond. 

39. like the glutton. The story of the glutton or Dives and 
Lazarus was one of the favorite subjects for " painted cloths." 
We notice here also Falstaff's fondness for Scriptural quotations. 

41. yea-forsooth knave; referring to the mild oaths of city 
tradesmen. Cf. Part I, iii. 1. 252-253, where Hotspur rebukes his 
wife for employing the phrase " in good sooth." 

42. bear . . . in hand, hold out false promises, deceive with 
flattering phrases. 

43. smooth-pates, the sleek-headed Puritanic citizen as con- 
trasted with the curly-haired courtier; it is an earlier version of 
the term " round-head." 

45-46. is through with them, has come to an agreement with 
them. 

46. honest taking up, buying on credit. 

53. the lightness of his wife. Jests at the expense of the citizens' 
wives were a stock theme in Elizabethan comedy. 

58. bought him in Paul's. Falstaff means that he hired Bardolph 
in the nave of St. Paul's, where business was very commonly 
transacted. 

71. good service at Shrewsbury. This is only one of many 
evidences that Falstaff was not really a coward. He said he would 
claim the honor of having killed Percy; but, as a matter of fact, 
as the preceding scene shows, the true author of that deed was well 
known to be the Prince of Wales. Falstaff's reputation at Shrews- 
bury was not, then, founded on a false claim. 

93. my knighthood and my soldiership. Falstaff, though he 
mingles so freely in taverns, is nevertheless proud of his title and 
position ; he never forgets that he has been the associate of princes. 

102. You hunt counter, you are on the wrong scent. 

103. avaunt; a term of contempt meaning " get away," 
" begone." 

110. clean past, altogether past. 

131-132. It hath it original . . . brain, it has its source in much 
grief, in anxiety, and distress of the brain. It is the neuter form 



Scene Two] NOTES 131 

of the genitive, older than its. Original is often used by Shake- 
speare as a noun; of. A Midsummer Nighfs Dream, ii. 1. 117, 
" We are their parents and original." 

133. his effects; his is the oldest form of the neuter genitive as 
in Anglo-Saxon. Galen, the Arabic master of medicine. 

141. to punish . . . by the heels, to lay by the heels, or imprison. 

146. in respect of poverty. Falstaff is hinting that the Lord 
Chief-Justice means to imprison him for debt simply because he 
is poor. 

151. against you for your life, involving life and death, i.e. 
the highway robbery. 

154. This land-service. Falstaff means that his military service 
excused his obedience to the commands of the Chief- Justice. 

164. The young prince hath misled me. This is Falstaff's 
continual pretence. Cf. Part I, i. 2. 102-104 : " (Thou) art indeed 
able to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon me, Hal ; 
God forgive thee for it ! " 

168. Your day's service at Shrewsbury, another proof that 
Falstaff really had a certain claim to military valor. 

171. o'er-posting, escaping, getting clear of. 

179. wassail candle, the specially large kind of candle used at 
festivals. 

187. your ill angel is light. Falstaff purposely misunderstands ; 
the " angel " was a gold coin worth about ten shiUings ; it bore the 
figure of the archangel Michael piercing the dragon. 

189. without weighing, i.e. as coins are weighed. 

190. / cannot go, I cannot tell. A quibbling allusion to light 
coinage : go is " pass current," tell is " count as good money." 

Virtue, probably in the Latin sense of valor or courage. 
192. bear-herd, keeper of a tame bear. 
pregnancy, readiness or intelligence of wit. 

198. the heat of our livers. The liver was considered as the seat 
of the passions. Cf . The Tempest, iv. 1. 55-56 : 

" The white cold virgin snow upon my heart 
Abates the ardour of my liver." 

199. vaward of our youth, the early part of our youth. Falstaff's 
pretensions to youth grow more and more arrogant until at last 
the Chief-Justice is compelled to take note of them. 

207. single, simple or poor. 

213. singing of anthems; in accord with his character as a 
Lollard or Puritan. Cf . Twelfth Night, ii. 3. 60-61 : " Shall we 



132 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act One 

rouse the night-owl in a catch that will draw three souls out of 
one weaver," the weavers also being famous as Puritans. 

214. approve my youth, prove my youth. 

216. caper with me, dance a jig in rivalry. 

220. checked him for it, chided him for it. 

237. never spit white again, as a sign of health or, possibly, of 
thirst. 

250-251. lend me a thousand pound. Falstaff sees that he has 
succeeded in mollifying the Chief-Justice and hence he makes this 
startlingly impudent request. It should be noted as the exact 
sum which he succeeds later in obtaining from Justice Shallow. 

253. to bear crosses; a pun upon the double use of the word 
crosses as afflictions and also as coins with a cross upon them. Cf . 
As You Like It, ii. 4. 12-14 : " I should bear no cross if I did bear 
you, for I think you have no money in your purse." 

255. three-man beetle, a rammer requiring three men to 
manipulate it. 

259. both the degrees, the two extremes of youth and age. 
Falstaff means that he does not wish to blame either old men or 
young because their vices bring their own punishment. Another 
possible meaning of prevent is " to be beforehand with," " to fore- 
stall." 

265-266. lingers and lingers it out, prolongs it like a wasting 
disease. 

269. Mistress Ursula; apparently Mrs. Quickly. 

275. / have the wars for my colour; he means that, even if he 
does go lame, a wound obtained in the wars can be suggested as the 
obvious reason. 

277-278. turn diseases to commodity. Falstaff means that he 
can make a profit even out of his diseases. 

SCENE 3 

3. hopes, prospects. 

5. well allow the occasion. Mowbray is satisfied that they have 
sufficient cause for rebellion, but not that their power is sufficient 
to effect it. 

10. upon the file, upon the list. Cf. Macbeth, iii. 1. 102-103: 

" Now, if you have a station in the file 
Not i' the worst rank of mankind, say 't.'* 

14. incensed fire of injuries; he has great injuries which are 
increased or " incensed " by the death of his son. 



Scene Three] NOTES 133 

27. lined himself with hope, stuffed or supported himself with 
hope. Cf. Macbeth i. 3. 111-113. 

29-30. Flattering himself . . . thoughts. He flattered himself 
in the idea of a force which was, in reality, much smaller than his 
least ambitious thoughts had guessed it. 

32. powers, men. 

33. winking, closing his eyes, blinding himself. Cf. Hamlet, ii. 
2. 136-137: 

" If I had play'd the desk or table-book. 
Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb." 

35. forms of hope, probable issues which are also favorable. 

37. Indeed. This word is the reading of the Folio; but it 
makes no sense. A suggested emendation is induced. 

37^1. a cause on foot . . . bite them, the issue of war is always 
doubtful while the war itself is in progress; it is as uncertain as 
buds in spring for, however flourishing they may appear, it is pos- 
sible that frosts will blight them. 

42. the model, the plan. 

47. offices, rooms for servants. Cf. Macbeth, ii. 1. 13-14: 
" He hath . . . sent forth great largess to your offices." 

60. his part-created cost, the product of cost, the building 
itself. 

61-62. a naked subject . . . tyranny, nakedly exposed (with- 
out roof) to the rain and to the hardships of winter. 

63. our hopes, yet likely of fair birth, our hopes which still 
promise to have a good issue. 

65. the utmost man of expectation, as many men as we can 
possibly expect. 

69. to us, in regard to us ; whatever other forces the king may 
have, they are not moving north for they are required elsewhere. 

71. one power against the French. Holinshed says concerning 
this : " The French king had appointed one of the marshals of 
France, called Montmerancie, and the master of his crosbowes, 
with twelve thousand men, to sail into Wales to aid Owen Glendower. 
They tooke shipping at Brest and landed at Milford Haven." 
The year was 1405. 

72. and one against Glendower. Holinshed says that the French 
tried but failed to take Haverfordwest and then " they departed 
towards the towne of Denbigh, where they found Owen Glendower 
abiding for their comming, with ten thousand of his Welshmen. 
Here were the Frenchmen joiefullie received of the Welsh rebels." 



134 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

80. Baying him at the heels, driving him to bay. 
82. The Duke of Lancaster, Prince John of Lancaster. He never 
formally possessed the title. 

86. publish the occasion of our arms, announce fully the cause of 
the rebellion. It should be noted that, historically. Archbishop 
Scrope's rebellion had been suppressed before the French sent 
assistance to Glendower. 

87. sick of their own choice, regretting that they substituted 
Henry IV for Richard II. 

91. fond many, foolish crowd. Cf. Latin menigo. The word is 
often used as a noun in Shakespeare. Cf . Coriolanus, iii. 1. 66-67 ; 

" For the mutable, rank-scented many, let them 
Regard me as I do not flatter." 

92. heat heaven with blessing Bolingbroke. This scene is 
described in Richard II, v. 2. 11-15: 

" Whilst all tongues cried ' God save thee, Bolingbroke ! ' 
You would have thought the very windows spake. 
So many greedy looks of young and old 
Through casements darted their desiring eyes 
Upon his visage." 

94. trimm'd in thine own desires, furnished completely with all 
you desired. The word trimmed in older English means to put the 
finishing touches to anything. 

103. threw'st dust upon his goodly head. Cf. Richard II, v. 2. 
28-30: 

" no man cried ' God save him ! ' 
No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home : 
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head." 

110. We are time's subjects, we are at the disposal of time. 

ACT II — SCENE 1 

Enter Fang and Snare. These are names which further mark the 
similarity between this play and Ben Jonson's comedies of 
"Humours" (see Introduction, p. xvii). So also Shallow, Silence, 
and Pistol belong to the same class. Ben Jonson is fond of such 
names as Down-Right, Weil-Bred, Justice Clement, Fastidius, 
Brisk, etc. Shakespeare's names are, as a rule, less obviously 
artificial. 

1. entered the action, commenced the action for debt against 
Falstajff. , ' 



Scene One] NOTES 135 

3. yeoman, servant or attendant upon a sheriff's officer. This 
was a common meaning for the word. Cf. Chaucer's Prologue, 
" A Yeman hadde he, and servaunts namo." 

17-18. Join, to thrust with a sword. 

24. within my vice, within my clutches. 

26. infinitive, infinite, unlimited. 

30. Lubber' s-head, leopard or libbard; the latter form was 
common. It is notable that the silk-mercer has a signpost for his 
shop ; in the sixteenth century and much later such signs were not 
limited to inns. Addison mentions them as characteristic of London 
even in his time. 

31. Lumbert street, Lombard Street ; so called after the Itahan 
merchants and bankers who had settled there. 

32. exion, the Hostess's mistake for action. 

34-35. A hundred mark is a long one, a long mark or score ; 
the word score comes also from the cutting of the mark. 

35. A poor lone woman. The Hostess is represented as a widow 
in this play, and Falstaff makes love to her and promises her mar- 
riage. Yet she has a husband in Part I, for the Prince says to her, 
" How doth thy husband ? I love him well, he is an honest man." 
Falstaff admonishes her, " love thy husband, look to thy servants, 
cherish thy guests." We may suppose the husband to have died 
in the meantime or, possibly, this is only another discrepancy in 
the drawing of the character. 

37. fubbed off, put off with worthless excuses. Cf. Part I, i. 2. 
66-69 : " Shall there be gallows standing in England when thou 
art king ? And resolution thus fobbed as it is with the rusty curb 
of old father antic the law? " 

42. malmsey-nose knave, one whose nose is reddened with 
malmsey wine; a common term of abuse. 

46. whose mare's dead? A slang phrase for "what is the 
matter ? " 

51. quean, wench, hussy ; usually employed as a term of abuse. 
Cf. The Merry Wives, iv. 2. 180-181 ; " A witch, a quean, an old 
cosening quean ! " The word, like queen, is derived from A. S. 
cwen, a woman. 

53. the channel, the gutter at the side of the street, where refuse 
was thrown; sometimes a small stream was utilized to carry the 
refuse away. 

55. bastardly; either " bastard " or " dastardly." 

56. honey-suckle, homicidal. 
58. honey-seed, homicide. 



136 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

68. man-queller, man-killer, from A. S. cwellan, to kill. Cf. 
Macbeth, 1. 7. 71-72: 

" His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt 
Of our great quell ? " 

62. a rescue or two. The Hostess mistakes the meaning of the 
word and probably thinks it is some kind of weapon. 

63. wo't, wilt. 

64. hemp-seed, born to be hanged. Abuse of this kind appealed 
immensely to the Elizabethans ; Nashe and others never ceased to 
taunt the critic, Gabriel Harvey, with the fact that he was the son 
of a ropemaker. 

65. rampallian, a term of abuse, signifying a low woman. 

66. fusiilarian, a term of abuse apparently coined by Falstaff. 

83. ride thee o' nights, like the mare. The nightmare was sup- 
posed to be a kind of fairy who " rode " people at night or else drove 
across them and made them dream. Cf . Romeo and Juliet, i. 4, where 
Shakespeare gives his account of Queen Mab : 

" Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck. 
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats," etc. 

85. vantage of ground, suitable opportunity. 
88. exclamation, outcry and abuse. 

94. parcel-gilt goblet, a goblet partly gilt ; parcel means " in 
small portions " or " in detail." 

94-95. Dolphin-chamber; probably so called because orna- 
mented with dolphins ; they make a good frieze and are frequent in 
ItaUan work of the period. 

95. sea-coal. Common coal was generally known as " sea-coal," 
partly to distinguish it from charcoal, which was often used in 
cooking, and partly because it was usually carried by sea from New- 
castle. 

96. Wheeson, Whitsun. 

97. liking his father, likening or comparing his father. 
101-102. goodwife Keech, the butchefs wife. A " keech " 

was a round lump of tallow or fat ; this, like " Fang " and " Snare," 
is one of the names suggestive of occupations. 

106. a green wound, a fresh wound. 

109. madam, the herald's title for the wife of a knight. Cf. 
Chaucer's Prologue : 

*' It is full fair to been y-clept * madame,' 
And goon to vigilyes al bifore." 



Scene One] NOTES 137 

111-112. book-oath, oath on the Bible. 

115. hath been in good case, was once in better circumstances. 

124. a level consideration, a just estimate of the case. 

133. sneap, rebuke; used also, by metaphor, of cold winds. 
Cf. The Winters Tale, i. 2. 13, " No sneaping winds at home." 

135-136. make courtesy and say nothing, bow to the judge and 
keep silent. 

141-142. as having power to do wrong. The Chief-Justice 
means that the king's business must, indeed, take precedence of 
all other ; and therefore Falstaff has it in his power to do wrong if 
he wishes. 

142-143. answer in the effect of your reputation, reply in a 
way suitable to your position in the world. 

143. satisfy, pay. 

145. Master Gower; probably intended for the poet, the author 
of the Confessio Amantis and the friend of Chaucer. Gower was 
greatly esteemed in the sixteenth century and was considered a 
fine moralist. In Ben Jonson's masque. The Golden Age Restored, 
there appeared the four poetic teachers of England — Chaucer, 
Gower, Lidgate, and Spenser. " Master " is the term of admiration 
for a poetic teacher; so Spenser speaks of "Master Chaucer." 
Gower, like Chaucer, was a Lancastrian. 

152. by this heavenly ground; a confusion of two oaths : " by 
heaven " and " by this ground." 

155. glasses, glasses, is the only drinking. Venetian glass had 
just come into fashion. 

156. a slight drollery, probably the representation of some 
farcical incident. In houses of the better class tapestry was used 
as a covering for the walls. Falstafif refers to it contemptuously as 
" bed-hangings " because he wishes the Hostess to be content with 
the much cheaper " painted cloth," or even with the " water- 
work," which was probably a kind of distemper. 

The " painted cloths " appear to have been a perfect museum of 
subjects and sayings. Ben Jonson in his masque. Pan's Anniver- 
sary, speaks of some one who " hath found it out in a painted cloth, 
or some old hanging, (for those are his library)." 

157. story of the Prodigal, one of the favorite subjects for 
" painted cloths." 

the German hunting; possibly a boar-hunt; or it may refer to 
the story of St. Hubert, who was hunting the stag when he received 
the vision which converted him. St. Hubert is a favorite subject 
in German art and frescoes. 



138 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

162. draw the action, withdraw the action. 

166-167. hut twenty nobles; the noble was worth 6s. 8d. 

175. hook on. Falstaff desires Bardolph not to lose sight of the 
Hostess ; he wishes to make sure of his loan. 

190. presently, immediately. 

199. take soldiers up in counties, the levy of the militia from 
each shire. 

206. tap for tap, tit for tat. 

208. the Lord lighten thee! enlighten thee or give thee sense. 

SCENE 2 
3. attached, seized or arrested. Cf . The Tempest, iii. 3. 5-6 : 

" Old lord, I cannot blame thee, 
"Who am myself attach'd with weariness." 

5-6. discolours the complexion of my greatness, makes me 
blush. 

9-10. loosely studied, loosely inclined. 

21. tennis-court-keeper. Tennis was, apparently, a favorite 
game both with the Prince and with Poins. In Henry V the King 
of France sends a special embassy with tennis-balls in order to 
insult Henry by a jest at the lightness of his temper. 

27. bawl out the ruins of thy linen. The meaning is that 
Poins' illegitimate children " bawl " in swaddling-clothes made 
out of his old shirts. 

30. kindreds are mightily strengthened, families increase. 

40. / stand the push, I await the blow or the reproof. 

49. in the devil's book, in the devil's register of lost souls. 

50. obduracy and persistency, stubbornness in evil. 

54. ostentation of sorrow, revealing of sorrow. The Prince 
means that he does not care to show his genuine grief for his father 
in such surroundings and amid such company. 

62-63. keeps the road-way better than thine. The Prince 
means that Poins can always be relied upon to think as everybody 
else thinks and to show no originality of any sort. 

64. accites, summons or induces. 

67. engraffed to, attached to. 

72. proper fellow of my hands, active and vigorous. 

83. pottle-pot, a tankard ; a measure of two quarts. 

86. a red lattice; marking a tavern of low quality. 

90. Has not the boy profited? The Prince means that the page 
is learning Falstaff's peculiar wit from association with Falstaff. 



Scene Two] NOTES 139 

93. Althaea's dream. The boy confuses Althaea, who snatched 
the firebrand from the fire, and Hecuba, who dreamed that she was 
about to give birth to a firebrand {i.e. Paris). Like Pistol, the page 
has frequented the Elizabethan theatres, and has confused the 
classical allusions which he has heard there from time to time. 

102. cankers, worms that destroy roses. Cf. A Midsummer 
Night's Dream, ii. 2. 3, " Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose 
buds." 

110. martlemas, Martinmas, the 11th of November ; hence used 
of a man advanced in years. It was also associated with fatness 
and grossness of body ; hence doubly appropriate to Falstaff . Cf . 
Spenser, Faerie Queene, vii. 7 : 

" Next was November, he full grosse and fat. 
As fed with lard, and that right well might seeme ; 
For he had been afatting hogs of late. 
That yet his browes with sweat did reek and steem." 

115. do allow this wen; alluding to Falstaff as a blemish on 
his character. 

118. " John Falstaff, knight/* Falstaff is exceedingly proud of 
his rank, and often refers to it. 

123-124. he, that takes upon him not to conceive, the man who 
wilfully misunderstands. 

128. or . . . fetch it from Japhet, The Prince means that such 
people will either claim kinship with royalty or else boast of an 
almost interminable pedigree. 

134-135. " / will imitate the honourable Romans in brevity." 
Falstaff is no less proud of his learning than of his rank, and is fond 
of bringing in classical references. Cf. iv. 3. 44-46. 

140. at idle times, at odd times. 

145-146. Sir John with all Europe. Falstaff claims a European 
reputation and, in the original as Oldcastle, he certainly had some 
right to it. 

160. frank, inclosure or sty. 

164. Ephesians; a slang term for boon-companions. Ephesus 
was supposed to be a special haunt of magicians and strange 
beings; hence Shakespeare lays there the scene of his Comedy of 
Errors. 

186-187. bestow himself . . . true colours, show himself as he 
really is. 

189. jerkins, jackets. 

193. descension, descent, decline. 



140 KING HENEY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

SCENE 3 ' 

2. give even way . . . affairs, yield gently to my grievous 
necessities. 

8. but my going, except for my going. 

11. more endeafd to it than now, more deeply pledged even 
than now. 

16. There were two honours lost. Northumberland's honor 
was lost because he failed his son and his friends ; Hotspur's was 
lost because he was conquered in single combat by Prince Hal. Cf. 
Part I, V. 4. 77-79 : 

" O, Harry, thou has robb'd me of my youth ! 
I better brook the loss of brittle life 
Than those proud titles thou hast won of me." 

21-22. he was the glass . . . dress themselves, he was the model 
to be imitated by all noble youths. So Ophelia calls Hamlet 
" The glass of fashion and the mould of form " (Hamlet, iii. 1. 161). 

24. thick, indistinctly ; the next lines explain what is meant — 
Hotspur crowded his utterance, which thus became indistinct. 

29. in affections of delight, in choice of pleasures. 

30. humours of blood, eccentricities and habits. 

31. mark; probably means what is to be steered for ; cf . Othello, 
V. 2. 268, " And very sea-mark of my utmost sail." 

38. Did seem defensible. Lady Percy means that only Hot- 
spur's name made the battle of Shrewsbury seem possible at all, 
since the odds were so heavily against the rebels. 

40. precise and nice, delicately and carefully. 

47. new lamenting ancient oversights, lamenting afresh for 
old mistakes. Cf. Sonnet xxx, " And with old woes new wail my 
dear time's waste." 

52. Have of their puissance made a little taste, have tested 
their power and seen what they can do. 

55. for all our loves, for the sake of us all. 

56. So did your son. Hotspur was left to see what he could do 
alone, without his father's aid. 

61. for recordation to, as a memorial to. 

SCENE 4 

2. apple-John, a kind of winter apple which grew withered from 
keeping. 
11. cover, lay the cloth. 



Scene Four] NOTES 141 

13. noise, band of musicians. The Elizabethans were exceed- 
ingly fond of music, and bands of players were to be met with in 
ale-houses, barber shops, and almost all places of public resort. 

21-22. old Utis, boisterous merriment, outcry ; cf . O. F. huitaves, 
the week of a festival. 

25. temperality ; probably means the " temperature " of any- 
thing. 

34-35. a good hearths worth gold, Cf. The Winter's Tale, 
iv. 3. 134-135: 

" A merry heart goes all the day. 
Your sad tires in a mile-a." 

36. " When Arthur first in court." From the ballad of Sir Lance- 
lot du Lake. Cf. iii. 2, which shows that Falstaff and Shallow had 
apparently acted together in Arthur's Show. 

40. calm, qualm. 

41. sect, sex. 

52. our chains and our jewels. This may be meant to suggest 
that Falstaff has borrowed from Doll or, possibly, she only insinu- 
ates it as an insult. 

53. ouches, ornaments or jewels. In Chaucer the word means 
a jeweled ornament or a clasp ; its proper significance is the setting 
for a jewel. Falstaff is quoting this line from an old ballad. 

62. rheumatic. The Hostess, as the next line shows, means 
" choleric." The choleric temperament was supposed to be due 
to excess of dryness and heat. 

64. what the good-year! Probably a corruption of Fr. gouj^re, 
a disease. 

69. Bourdeaux stuff. Bordeaux was then, as now, one of the 
great ports for wine. Chaucer also makes his merchant bring a 
cargo of wine from Bordeaux. 

74. Ancient Pistol, Ensign Pistol. 

91. ancient swaggerer. The Hostess seems to understand 
ancient in the more common sense of " old." 

105-106. tame cheater, a slang term for a sharper. 

110. Cheater. The Hostess mistakes the word for the honor- 
able office of " escheater " — the officer who collected fines due 
the Exchequer. Cf . The Merry Wives, i. 3. 77-78, " I will be cheater 
to them both, and they shall be exchequers to me." 

137. cut-purse rascal. The purse was generally attached by 
strings, hence it was the aim of the sharper to cut it away. 

138. bung, pick-pocket. 

139. chaps, jaws, cuttle, cut-purse. 



142 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Two 

140. bottle-ale. Ale was a less distinguislied drink tlian wine. 
Cf. ii. 2. 7, where the Prince asks, " Doth it not show vilely in me 
to desire small beer? " 

141. basket-hilt stale juggler, a juggler who shows off sword- 
tricks, but who has grown " stale " or tiresome. 

142. points; probably the laces that marked his rank. 

162. ill-sorted, fell into evil company; the word occupy had 
acquired a very bad sense. 

169-170. Pluto's damned lake; probably the river Lethe, 
which Pistol has confused with a lake. 

173. faitors, evil-doers. 

Hiren. Probably a reminiscence of Peele's tragedy. The Turkish 
Mahomet and the Fair Greek Hiren. Pistol seems, however, to 
confuse it with " iron " and to think that it refers to a sword. 

175-176. aggravate your choler. The Hostess means the exact 
opposite — mitigate or assuage your wrath. 

177. good humours, fine ideas. Pistol, as usual, misunder- 
stands the word. 

178. Hollow pamper* d jades of Asia; an amusingly perverted 
quotation from Marlowe's Tamhurlaine, iv. 4. The stage directions 
run, " Enter Tamburlaine drawn in his chariot by the Kings of 
Trebisond and Soria, with bits in their mouths ; in his right hand 
he has a whip with which he scourgeth them, while his left hand 
holds the reins." Tamburlaine says : 

" Holla, ye pampered jades of Asia ! 
What ! can ye draw but twenty mile a day. 
And have so proud a chariot at your heels. 
And such a coachman as great Tamburlaine ? " 

180. Cannibals. Pistol probably means Hannibal. 

183. fall foul for toys, quarrel for mere trifling creatures ; he 
may be referring, with would-be magnificence, to Doll herself. 

184-185. very bitter words. The Hostess is impressed with the 
large number of incomprehensible phrases. 

188-189. give crowns like pins; probably another allusion to 
Tamburlaine, where the conqueror distributes crowns to his fol- 
lowers (iii. 3) : 

" Tech. We have their crowns : their bodies strew the field. 
Tamb. Each man a crown ! TMiy kingly fought, i' faith ! " 

Tamburlaine promises all his Heutenants that they shall be kings 
in Asia, and he keeps his word. 



Scene Four] NOTES 143 

193. feed and he fat, my fair Calipolis. From Peele's Battle of 
Alcazar, where Muley Mahomet says to his wife, " Feed then and 
faint not, fair Calipolis," offering her at the same time a portion 
of lion's flesh on a sword. It is only the most extravagant portions 
of the old tragedies which hamit the mind of Pistol. 

195. " Si fortune me tormente." It was an Elizabethan trick 
to use tags from French and Italian ; this proverb was current 
in both languages and Pistol confuses them hopelessly in his 
reply. 

198. Come we to full points, come to a full stop. 

200. neif, fist. Cf. A Midsummer Night's Dream, iv. 1. 20, 
" Give me your neaf, Mounsieur Mustardseed." 

201. seen the seven stars, seen the Pleiades; i.e. spent many 
nights together; cf. iii. 2. 228-229. 

205. Galloway nags, common horses. 

206. Quoit him down, throw Uke a quoit. 

206-207. shove-groat shilling, " Shove-groat " was a game 
with a marked board on which coins, either groats or shillings, were 
pushed along to a given space. Other names for the game were 
" shovel-board " and " squayles." 

207-208. speak nothing, speak nonsense. 

210. imbrue, draw blood. 

211. death rock me asleep; a popular song commonly attrib- 
uted to Anne Boleyn. The unfortunate queen was regarded with 
great sympathy in Shakespeare's day, being considered a Protestant 
martyr. 

213. Untwine the Sisters Three. Pistol, as usual, hopelessly 
confuses his classical allusions and speaks as if the Three Sisters or 
Fates were twined or bound together. The "thread" which 
Atropos slits is, of course, the thread of human life. 

235. chops; alluding to Falstaff's fat cheeks. 

250. tidy, prime, in good condition. 

250-251. Bartholomew boar-pig. Roast pig was the chief 
dainty at Bartholomew Fair, which was held in Smithfield on the 
feast day of St. Bartholomew, August 24. Cf. Ben Jonson's 
Bartholomew Fair, i. 1 : 

" Now pig, it is a meat, and a meat that is nourishing and may be 
longed for and so, consequently, eaten ; it may be eaten, very ex- 
ceeding well eaten : but in the Fair, and as a Bartholomew pig, it 
cannot be eaten ; for the very calling it a Bartholomew pig, and to 
eat it so, is a spice of idolatry and you make the Fair no better than 
one of the high-places." 



144 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

256. what humour *s the prince of? What is the Prince's 
nature or character? 

258. pantler, servant in charge of the pantry. Cf . The Winter a 
Tale, iv. 4. 56, " This day she was both pantler, butler, cook." 

263. there *s no more conceit . . . mallet, he has no more ideas 
than a wooden maUet ; he is a blockhead. 

267. flapdragons, pieces of burning stuff swallowed with wine ; 
the modern form is snapdragon. 

268. rides the wild-mare, plays at see-saw. 

269. joined-stools, folding stools. Cf. King Lear, iii. 6. 54, 
" Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool." 

271. the sign of the leg, the sign over a bootmaker's shop. 

271-272. breeds no hate . . . stories, makes no one quarrel 
with him because the stories he tells are too discreet or tame ; i.e. 
his anecdotes are indecent. 

279. have his ears cut off; a Star-Chamber penalty for defam- 
ing royalty. 

286. Saturn; an allusion to the age and white hairs of Falstaff. 

288. Trigon, really a triangle. When the three chief planets — 
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — met in one of the fiery signs — Aries, 
Leo, or Sagittarius — they were said to form a " fiery trigon." 
According to medieval astrology, each sign of the zodiac had a 
special relation to one of the four elements ; there were thus three 
fiery, three watery, three airy, and three earthy signs. 

289. Lisping to his mastefs old tables, courting his master's 
old mistress. 

291. busses, coarse and wanton kisses. 

297. kirtle, a jacket with petticoat attached. 

306. Anon, immediately, i.e. in one moment. 

308. Poins his brother, a brother of Poins. 

320. by this light flesh, an extension of the common oath, " by 
this light." 

324-325. if you take not the heat, unless you at once grow angry. 

326. candle-mine, a whole magazine of tallow. 

358. dead elm, i.e. dangerous to anyone who took shelter near 
him ; the elm tree had an ill reputation as its boughs were supposed 
to break easily and fall, sometimes killing those who had taken 
shelter under it. Possibly Poins means to imply that Falstaff 
gives poor support to his " vine," Doll Tearsheet. 

359-360. pricked down Bardolph irrecoverable, put him in 
his list or roll. So Falstaff " pricks " the men he means to take 
for his muster (iii. 2) ; some of them bribe their release from service 



Scene One] NOTES 145 

and so escape, but Bardolph cannot escape from the devil's 
muster. 

361. maltworms, beer-drinkers, topers. 

362. a good angel about him. In the old moralities it was usual 
to represent a man as attended by two angels, a good and an evil 
angel, who made alternate bids for his soul. This phrase may be a 
reference to Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, in which the same thing occurs 
(vi) ; the devil does outbid the good angel. 

373. contrary to the law. The sale of meat was forbidden during 
Lent, but the law was continually being evaded. 

392-393. like the south Borne with black vapour. The south 
or southwest wind was always considered the one that brought 
rain, pestilence, mildew, and general ill-luck. Cf. The Tempest, 
i. 2. 323-324 : 

" a south-west blow on ye 
And blister you all o'er ! " 

408. sent away post, sent post-haste or swiftly. 

413. peascod-time, early summer. 

421. blubbered, with eyes and cheeks swollen with weeping. 

ACT III — SCENE 1 

nightgown, dressing-gown. 

6. Nature's soft nurse. Cf. Macbeth, ii. 2. 37-39: 

" Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, 
. . . sore labour's bath. 
Balm of hurt minds . . ." 

9. cribs, small, narrow dwellings. 

10. uneasy pallets, uncomfortable beds. 
17. watch-case, sentry-box. 

24. slippery clouds, the clouds which seem to hang down and 
mingle with the sea. 
26. hurly, loud noise, confusion. 
26. partial, giving its favors unjustly. 

29. means to boot, every assistance that can be of avail. 

30. happy low, lie down, happy people of low rank, lie down to 
your slumbers. 

42. his, its, as often in EHzabethan English. 
44. will soon be cooVd. Northumberland's rebellion is com- 
pared to a fever which will soon be cooled or put to an end. 



146 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Theee 

49-51. To see , . . Neptune's hips, to see the sea shrinking 
down to what appears to be a lower level. Cf . Sonnet Ixiv : 

" When I have seen the hungry ocean gain 
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore. 
And the firm soil win of the watery main. 
Increasing store with loss and loss with store.* 

60. ocean, here pronounced as three syllables. 

55. what crosses to ensue, what diflficulties and miseries to 
follow. 

60. but eight years since; this would make the date 1407 
(see Introduction, p. vi). 

63. under my foot, at my disposal. 

75. thus did he follow it, thus did he continue. 

81. Figuring the nature of the times deceased, which repeats, as 
it were, the past. If a man observes the past carefully, he can 
prophesy, not exactly but almost exactly, the main current of fu- 
ture events, for history continually repeats itself. 

83. the main chance of things, the main course of events. 

85. lie intreasured, lie as yet hidden, like the concealed treasures 
of plants, in their seeds only. 

86. become the hatch and brood of time, are revealed in the 
natural course of events. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 58-60 : 

" If you can look into the seeds of time. 
And say which grain will grow and which will not. 
Speak then to me." 

87. the necessary form of this, the form necessarily assumed by 
the historical observation. 

103. instance, information. According to Holinshed, Glendower 
died in 1408-1409 (see Introduction, p. vii). 

105. unseasoned, unseasonable. 

108. We would . . . unto the Holy Land. Henry IV always 
cherished the idea of going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to 
atone for the blood of the murdered Richard. 

SCENE 2 

3. by the rood, by the cross ; the word also occurs in place-names, 
like Holyrood. 

9. a black ousel, a blackbird. At the court of the fair Elizabeth 
blondes were fashionable and brunettes out of favor. Cf. the 



Scene Two] NOTES 147 

Sonnets in which Shakespeare taunts his mistress with having hairs 
like " black wires " (cxxx) and with being " a woman colour'd ill " 
(cxliv). 

21. roundly, offhand, without hesitation. 

23-24. a Cotswold man. Cotswold was famous for its races 
and wrestling matches. Shakespeare makes another allusion to 
Cotswold sports in The Merry Wives of Windsor, i. 1. 92, where we 
are told that Master Page's fallow greyhound was " outrun on 
Cotsall." 

24. swing e-bucklers, rioters and roysterers. 

26. bona-robas, courtesans. 

28-29. page to Thomas Mowbray. The historical Sir John 
Oldcastle did actually hold this position. 

33. Skogan. Shakespeare probably means Henry Scogan, who 
was a court poet to Henry IV and a friend of Chaucer's ; the latter 
addressed a poem to him entitled " Lenvoy de Chaucer a Scogan." 
There was also another Scogan, Court Jester to Edward IV, author 
of a popular book of jests. Shakespeare seems to confuse the two, 
for the incident recorded is more worthy of the jester than of the 
poet. 

34. crack, urchin. We might observe that this anecdote of 
Falstaff in his youth is not at all in accord with a character of 
cowardice. 

42. How a good yoke of bullocks, how much is a good yoke of 
bullocks worth .J* Bullocks were still used for plowing. 

51. clapped V the clout. The " clout " was the bull's-eye of a 
target. Cf. Love's Labour 's Lost, iv. 1. 136, " Indeed, a' must 
shoot nearer ; or he '11 ne'er hit the clout." 

52. forehand shaft, an arrow for shooting point blank. 

53. fourteen and a half, fourteen and a half score ; a very fine 
range. 

67. tall, valiant, courageous. Cf. Twelfth Night, i. 3. 20, 
" He 's as tall a man as any 's in lUyria." 

70. backsword man, a player at single-stick. 

72. accommodated. The word had suddenly become fashionable. 
Bardolph evidently does not know what it means. 

92. like well, are in good condition. 

95. Surecard, a boon companion. 

97. in commission with me, i.e. as a fellow Justice. 

102-103. sufficient men, men good enough for military service. 

121. Prick him, put him down in the roll. See note on 
ii. 4. 359-360. 



148 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Three 

122. pricked well enough before; a metaphor from " pricking '* 
= spurring. Mouldy means that he already has sufficient work. 

142. muchof the father's substance; ironic. 

145-146. shadows to fill up the muster-book, bogus names for 
which they would draw pay. 

165. an enemy's battle. A " battle " was a division of an army. 
Cf . Henry V (iv. Prologue, 9), " Each battle sees the other's imiber'd 
face." 

171. magnanimous, great-minded or courageous. 

178. leader of so many thousands; he alludes to the vermin in 
Wart's rags. 

197. gown, dressing-gown or bed-gown. 

198. take such order. Falstaff is hinting that Bullcalf will not 
have much chance of coming home. Cf. Part I, v. 3. 36-38 : " I 
have led my ragamuffins where they are peppered : there 's not three 
of my hundred and fifty left alive." 

213. never could away with me, never could put up with me. 

228. heard the chimes at midnight. Elizabethan hours were 
much earlier than modern ones. 

236. Harry ten shillings, the ten-shilKng pieces, first minted by 
Henry VII and Henry VIII. 

238-242. for mine own part. Shakespeare notes the habit of 
repetition as characteristic of the slow mentality of rustics; it is 
so with William in As You Like It. Justice Shallow is marked as 
essentially a rustic by the same habit. 

248. you shall have forty, i.e. forty shillings. 

260-261. three pound; four have been offered, but Bardolph 
intends to keep one as his commission. 

276. thewes, muscles, sinews. 

277. assemblance, semblance, appearance. 

282. gibbets on, hangs a barrel on the sling by which it is carried. 

289. caliver, musket. 

291. traverse, march. 

294. chapt, chapped. Cf. choTpt in As You Like It, ii. 4. 50, 
" the cow . . . that her pretty chopt hands had milkt." 

296. scab; often used as a term for a rough and poor fellow ; 
it really means a sheep afflicted with the disease so called. 

296. tester, sixpence. 

297. not his craffs master. Shallow means that the man has 
no real control over his " caKver " or musket. 

299-300. Sir Dagonet in Arthur's show. Sir Dagonet in some 
versions of the tale is Arthur's court fool (see Malory). There was 



Scene Two] NOTES 149 

a famous play called The Misfortunes of Arthur, which was com- 
posed by members of " Gray's Inn " and acted before Queen Eliza- 
beth in 1588. It was probably this which suggested the idea to 
Shakespeare. 

301. quiver, nimble. 

319. at a word, in one word, briefly. 

324. fetch off, score off, cheat. ^ 

329. Turnbull Street, more usually Turnmill Street, a notorious 
neighborhood. 

330-331. duer paid to the hearer . . . tribute. Falstaff means 
that the Turk is not more certain to exact tribute than the hearer, 
if Shallow is to be paid with lies. 

337. invincible; probably an error for invisible; or else Falstaff 
means that they are not to be " mastered " or " made out." 

genius of famine, the spirit of famine itself. 

339-340. a' came ever in the rearward of the fashion, he tried 
to be thought fashionable, but was always behind the times. 

340-341. over-scutched huswives; probably means prostitutes 
who are " over-scotched " or whipped ; another possible meaning is 
" worn out in the service." 

342-343. fancies or good-nights, titles of love-poems. 

343. Vice's dagger. In the old Moralities, Vice used to carry a 
dagger of lath. Cf. Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 134-136 : " Like to the 
old Vice, . , . Who, with dagger of lath," etc. 

344-345. John a Gaunt. John of Gaunt was always a favorite 
character with the Elizabethans, both because of his own valor and 
because the Tudor claim to the crown was derived through him. He 
plays a fine part of admonition and warning in Richard II. 

345. sworn brother, brother in arms. 

349. beat his own name, i.e. Gaunt. Cf. Richard II, ii. 1. 74, 
" Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old." 

351. treble hautboy, the wind-instrument so called. 

355. philosopher's two stones. One changed all metals into 
gold, the other gave long life by curing all diseases; or possibly 
the second " philosopher's stone " was the one that was supposed 
to make glass malleable. 

356. the old pike; a play on the name " Lucy " (see Introduction, 
p. xxvii). With this picture of Lucy we may compare Sir Thomas 
Overbury's character of " A Country Gentleman " : " His travell 
is seldome farther then the next market towne, and his inquisition 
is about the price of corne ; when he travelleth, he will goe ten 
mile out of the way to a cousins house of his to save charges. . . . 



150 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

Nothing under a * sub poena ' can draw him to London, and when 
he is there, he sticks fast upon every object, casts his eyes away upon 
gazing, and becomes the prey of every cutpurse. When he comes 
home, these wonders serve him for his hohday talke. If he goe to 
Court, it is in yellow stockings." 

ACT IV — SCENE 1 

2. Gaultree Forest, north of the city of York. 
9. cold intent, unwelcome and of chilling effect. 
11. hold sortance with his quality, be in keeping with his rank. 
15-16. the hazard and fearful meeting of their opposite, the 
danger and fearful risk of meeting their opponents. 

23. The just proportion that we gave them out, exactly as we 
estimated. 

24. sway on, swing on. 

30. What doth concern your coming ? What is the reason for 
your coming ? 

33. routs, bands. 

34. bloody youth, bloodthirsty and violent youth. 

guarded, adorned. Cf. Much Ado, i. 1. 288, " your discourse 
is sometime guarded with fragments." 

36. commotion, civil war. 

42. by a civil peace maintained, maintained by orderly and good 
government. 

45. investments, robes. 

47. translate, transform. Cf. A Midsummer Nighfs Dream, 
iii. 1.'- 121-122, " Bless thee. Bottom ! bless thee ! thou art trans- 
lated." 

50. Turning your books to graves, i.e. to the graves of the slain. 

62. a point of war, a signal given by the blast of a trumpet. 

60. / take not on me here as a physician, nor do I claim to be a 
physician. 

64. To diet rank minds sick of happiness, to bring a cure to minds 
that have grown diseased through too much prosperity. 

69. griefs, distresses, grievances. 

71. our most quiet there, our best peace in the ordinary course of 
life. 

72. by the rough torrent of occasion, by sudden and violent 
events. 

73. the summary, the summing up. 

80. days but newly gone, such as the battle of Shrewsbury. 



Scene One] NOTES 151 

82-83. examples of every minute's instance, fresh examples of 
rebellion which occur every minute. 

87. Concurring both in name and quality, which really is what it 
seems. 

90. suborn'd to grate on you, set on to exasperate you. 

92. with a seal divine, by the presence of a consecrated arch- 
bishop. 

94-95. My brother general . . . cruelty. It is obvious that 
something has dropped out between these lines for they make no 
sense as they stand; the meaning of the Archbishop's speech is 
plainly that he makes the quarrel for the sake of his " brother gen- 
eral " {i.e. the nation), but more particularly because of cruelty to 
his own brother. Lord Scroop, who had recently been executed. 

104. Construe the times to their necessities. Westmoreland 
means that the king is not unduly harsh, but is compelled to sever- 
ity by the exigencies of a particularly difficult reign. 

116. Was force perforce compelled to banish him. Cf. Richard 
II, i. 3. 148-151 : 

Norfolk, for thee remains a heavier doom. 
Which I with some unwillingness pronounce : 
The sly slow hours shall not determinate 
The dateless limit of thy dear exile." 

120. armed staves in charge, their spears, i.e. the staffs or shafts, 
with armed points. 

beavers. The beaver was the front part or faceguard of the 
helmet. Cf . Hamlet, i. 2. 229-230 : 

" Ham. Then saw you not his face ? 
Hor. O, yes, my Lord ; he wore his beaver up." 

125. warder, truncheon; a staff of command. Richard sud- 
denly and unexpectedly stopped the combat between Bolingbroke 
and the elder Mowbray ; he banished the former for ten years and 
the latter for life. 

126. his own life hung upon the staff he threw, because, by 
banishing his most faithful adherent — Mowbray — in the vain 
effort to stifle faction, he gave free rein to his enemies. 

128. by indictment and by dint of sword, by legal process and 
also by battle. 

135. He ne'er had borne it, he would not have been permitted 
to survive. 

145. set off, ignored and pardoned. 



152 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

147. forced us to compel this offer, driven us into rebellion. 

149. you overween, you are too proud. 

151. mthin a ken, within a short distance. 

154. Our battle is more full of names, our army contains far 
more men of note than yours. 

161. handling; here pronounced in three syllables. 

163. In very ample virtue of his father, with full powers granted 
him by his father. 

166. That is intended in the general's name, that is implied in 
the very title of General. 

167. / muse , . . question, I wonder that you ask so trifling 
a question. 

172. that are insinew'd to this action, who are allied with us, who 
make us strong. 

173. true substantial form, i.e. form of pardon. 

174-175. and present execution . , . confined, the immediate 
execution of our wishes being granted to us and to our demands. 

176. our awful banks, the limits of awe and reverence to the king. 

177. knit our powers to the arm of peace, strengthen the peace 
by devoting our forces to maintain it. 

180. which God so frame, which God so ordain, or bring about. 
Cf. A. S. fremman, to make or create. 

181. place of difference, battlefield where the issue must be 
decided. 

183. a thing . . . tells me. Shakespeare often gives this pre- 
monition to men about to die. Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 222-223, " thou 
wouldst not think how ill all' s here about my heart." 

187. shall consist upon, shall insist upon. 

189. our valuation, the esteem, or rather lack of esteem, in which 
we are held. 

190. false-derived cause, invented cause. 

191. idle, empty, nice and wanton, trivial and far-fetched. 

192. taste of this action; the king will, for the future, always 
interpret us by this one action. 

193. were our royal faiths martyrs in love, even if we were 
faithful to the king to the point of martyrdom. 

198. Of dainty and such picking grievances, of grievances for 
such small and trifling causes. 

199. to end one doubt by death. If, through suspicions, the 
king puts one man to death, he finds that his severity has only 
caused two new enemies in place of the one executed. 

201. tables, records. Cf. Hamlet, i. 5. 99-100 : 



Scene Two] NOTES 153 

" Yea, from the table of my memory 
I' 11 wipe away all trivial, fond records." 

203. history, narrate or tell. Shakespeare often uses nouns as 
verbs. 

205-206. He cannot . . . present occasion. He knows very well 
that he cannot possibly ruin or destroy everyone whom he suspects. 

213. hangs resolved correction, suspends or prevents the punish- 
ment which he has determined upon. 

219. may offer, but not hold, may threaten vengeance but be 
without the power to execute it. 

SCENE 2 

8. an iron man, a man in armor. 

10. Turning the word to sword, employing the material weapon 
of the sword instead of the spiritual weapon of the word of God. 

11. sits within a monarch's heart, is acquainted with all the 
secrets of the king. Cf. Henry V, ii. 2. 96-97 : 

*' Thou that didst bear the key of all my counsels. 
That knew'st the very bottom of my soul." 

14. set abroach, start flowing. 

20. opener and intelligencer, one who explains and interprets. 
22. our dull workings, the dull movements of the mind ; a lack of 
intelligence. 

26. ta'en up, raised in rebellion. 

27. Under the counterfeited zeal of God, pretending the motive 
of religion. 

30. up-swarm'd them, made them swarm up ; the term is prop- 
erly used of bees only. 

33. in common sense, as ought to be obvious. 

34. Crowd and. . . monsfrous/orm, compel us to this monstrous 

and extraordinary action. 

36. parcels, detached items, details. Cf. As You Like It, ni. 
5. 124-126 : 

" There be some women . . . had they mark'd him 
In parcels as I did, would have gone near 
To fall in love with him." 

38. Hydra son of war. The heads of the Hydra grew instantly, 
as soon as the old ones were lopped off; so, when one trouble is 



154 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Foub 

quelled, others immediately spring up in its place, war being pro- 
ductive of endless surprises. 

45. supplies, reserves. 

46. If they miscarry, theirs shall second them, i.e. there is one 
reserve after another. 

47. success of mischief, a continual succession of mischiefs or 
calamities ; mischief was used in a much stronger sense in older 
English, sometimes meaning Satan himself. 

51. to sound the bottom of the after-times, i.e. to know what will 
happen in the future ; one of Shakespeare's many sea-metaphors. 

57. too lavishly, too loosely or carelessly. 

61. Discharge your powers . . . counties, dismiss your levies to 
the different shires from which they came. 

63. drink together friendly and embrace. Holinshed places this 
speech in the mouth of the Earl of Westmoreland : " ' Let us drinke 
togither in signe of agreement, that the people on both sides male 
see it, and know that it is true, that we be light at a point.' They 
had no sooner shaken hands togither, but that a knight was sent 
streight waies from the archbishop, to bring word to the people 
that there was peace concluded." Holinshed gives two versions of 
the interview ; but in both, it is to be noted, he makes Westmore- 
land guilty of the main treachery in entrapping the rebels. Shake- 
speare transfers the blackest part of it to Prince John, possibly 
because he wishes to point out the contrast between him and his 
hero — Harry. 

80. something ill; another example of Mowbray's premonition. 

81. Against ill chances men are ever merry. Cf. Romeo and 
Juliet, V. 3. 88-89 : 

*' How oft when men are at the point of death 
Have they been merry ! which their keepers call 
A lightning before death." 

82. heaviness, sadness, dreariness. 

94. peruse, consider or look over. 

95. coped withal, met with or fought with. 
109. attach, arrest. 

112. pawn'd, pledged. 

118. most shallowly, without consideration ; lightly or foolishly. 

119. Fondly, fooHshly. 

120. scattered stray, scattered stragglers. 

122. the block of death. Holinshed says: "The archbishop 
and the earle marshall were brought to Pomfret to the king, who in 



Scene Three] NOTES 155 

this meane while was advanced thither with his power; and from 
thence he went to Yorke, whither the prisoners were also brought, 
and there beheaded the morrow after Whitsundaie. . . . Unto all 
which persons, though indemnitie was promised, yet was the same 
to none of them at anie hand performed." 

SCENE 3 

Holinshed gives no foundation or suggestion for this scene 
beyond mentioning the name of Sir John Colevile as one of the 
rebels executed at Durham. 

1. condition, rank. 

14. drops of thy lovers, tears of thy friends. 

15-16. rouse up fear and trembling, tremble and give way. 

21-22. not a tongue . . . name. Falstaff means that his fatness 
makes him absolutely unmistakable. 

23. any indifferency, any reasonable size. 

25. womb, belly. 

37. poor and old motion; his movements are poor {i.e. slow) 
because he is old. 

38-39. extremest inch of possibility, with the utmost possible 
speed. 

39. foundered, disabled by overriding ; another jest at his own 
excessive size. 

40. travel-tainted, travel-stained. 

52. a particular ballad. It was the custom in Elizabethan Eng- 
land for ballads to be composed and sung at any particularly note- 
worthy event and afterwards sold in printed form. Cf. Antony 
and Cleopatra, v. 2. 214-216 : 

" saucy lictors 
Will catch at us . . . and scald rhymers 
Ballad us out o' tune." 

58. the cinders of the element, the sparks of the air, i.e. the stars. 
60-61. let desert mount, let my merits be acknowledged. 
73. You should have won them dearer, it would have cost you 
more to conquer them. 

89. Stand . . ,in your good report, do me the favor of speaking 
well of me. 

90. in my condition, in my position as general. 
92. the wit, the intelligence. 

97-98. come to any proof, show any real sterling excellence. 
104. sherris-sack, wine of Xeres in Spain. 



156 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

106. crudy, raw and crude. 

107. apprehensive, quick of understanding. 
forgetive, able to forge things ; imaginative or inventive. 
109-110. the tongue, which is the birth, the tongue, which gives 

birth to ideas. 

113. the liver white and pale, a white or bloodless liver was 
always supposed to be a sign of cowardice. 

116. the parts extreme, outer parts. 

125. hoard of gold kept by a devil; probably an allusion to 
Spenser {Faerie Queene, II, vii), where Guy on comes across a great 
hoard of gold that is guarded by the monster Mammon and his 
attendant fiends. 

126. commences it and sets it in act and use. Tyrwhitt suggests 
that there is probably an allusion to the " Commencement " at 
Cambridge, the conferring of the degree which gives the student 
the right to employ his learning. 

131. fertile, fertilizing. 
133. humane principle, rule of manliness. 
134-135. thin potations, such as small beer. 
140. already tempering; a metaphor from sealing-wax, — 
being already tempered and prepared ready for sealing. 

SCENE 4 

2. debate, quarrel or battle. The word bore a much stronger 
sense in Shaikespearean English than it does in modern English. 
Cf. A Midsummer Nighfs Dream, ii. 1. 115-116: 

" And this same progeny of evils comes 
From our debate, from our dissension." 

4. sanctified; their swords would be sanctified for service 
against the infidel. 
6. address'd, equipped and fitted out. 

6. well invested, installed in their offices and powers. 

7. level to our wish, exactly as we desire. 
27. omit him not, do not neglect him. 

30. he is gracious, if he be observed, he knows how to be gracious 
if a suitable appeal is made to him. 

33. being incensed, he 's flint, if he once becomes angry, he is 
very hard and stern. 

34. as humorous as winter, as capricious and change- 
able as winter. 



Scene Four] NOTES 157 

35. flaws congealed in the spring of day, thin flakes of ice which 
are found in the morning on the surface of water and which melt 

40. like a whale on ground, like a stranded whale. Holinshed 
probably suggested this metaphor for in his account of the year 
1573-1574 he says : " At six of the clocke at night in the He of 
Thanet besides Ramsgate in the parish of saint Peter under the 
cliffe, a monstrous fish or whale of the sea did shoot himselfe on 
shore- where, for want of water, beating himselfe on the sands, 
he died about six of the clocke on the next morning, before which 
time he roared, and was heard more than a mile on the land. 

45. mingled with venom of suggestion, even if poisonous sug- 
gestions are made to them. 

46. force perforce, certainly. 

47 though it do work as strong; it certainly refers to the poison- 
ous suggestions which may be infused into the minds of the brothers. 

48. rash, suddenly acting. , i ., 

54. the fattest soil, the richest and most frmtful soil. 

58-59. When I do shape . . . unguided days, when I imagine 
what the state will be like without guidance. 

64. lavish manners, licentious behavior. 

66. Towards fronting peril and opposed decay; his affections 
{i.e. tendencies) will make him hasten toward the peril and rmn that 
will confront him if he gives way to his licentiousness. 

67. you look beyond him quite, you much exaggerate his faults. 
74. in the perfectness of time, when the proper time has arrived. 
77*. mete the lives of others, measure out and so comprehend the 

lives of others. , , i i j 

79-80. 'tis seldom . . . carrion, when the bee has once placed 
her comb in the dead carrion, she is likely to remain there. The 
king does not beUeve in the possibility of his son's reformation. 
86. Peace puts forth her olive. Cf . Sonnet cvii : 

" Incertainties now crown themselves assured 
And peace proclaims olives of endless age." 

90. With every course in his particular, with every movement 
fully explained in detail. 

92. haunch, rear or latter end. 

93. lifting up of day, dawn of day. , j ^ ^ 

105. a stomach and no food, an appetite, but no food to eat. 

106. Such are the poor, in health, such are the poor who have 
their health, but who have nothing else. 



158 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Four 

119. Hath wrought the mure; the incessant care and labor of 
the mind has made the wall of flesh so thin that life may soon break 
through and escape. 

122. Unfather'd heirs, children conceived without mortal 
fathers, like Merlin, who was supposed to have been begotten by a 
demon. 

125. The river hath thrice flow'd. Holinshed says : "In this 
year (1411) and upon the twelfth day of October, were three floods 
in the Thames, the one following upon the other, and no ebbing 
betweene : which thing no man then living could remember the like 
to be scene." 

128. our great-grandsire, Edward, Edward III. 

SCENE 5 

2. dull, drowsy or sleep-giving. 

6. he changes much; the sharpening of the features before 
death. 

9. rain within doors; spoken half in irony because Clarence is 
weeping. 

24. ports of slumber, portals or doors of slumber. 

27. biggen, nightcap. 

31. scalds with safety, the armor concentrates heat upon the 
wearer and burns him even while it protects him. 

36. rigol, circle. 

38. heavy sorrows of the blood, heavy and serious grief of heart. 

43. Lo, here it sits. The Prince imagines the king dead and 
takes the crown from his pillow. This action certainly appears 
heartless, though Shakespeare, with admirable art, has made it 
the occasion of reconciliation. In Holinshed, it should be noted, 
the Prince has really more warrant for his action, for the bystanders 
also believe the king to be dead and cover his face. " During this 
his last sickness, he caused his crowne (as some write) to be set on 
a pillow at his bed's head ; and suddenlie his pangs so sore troubled 
him, that he laie as though all his vitall spirits had beene from him 
departed. Such as were about him, thinking verelie that he had 
beene departed, covered his face with a linnen cloth. The prince, 
his son, being hereof advertised, entered into the chamber, tooke 
awaie the crowne, and departed." 

64. this part of his conjoins with my disease, this action of his» 
so truly characteristic of him, assists my disease. 

66. falls into revolt, becomes unnatural or base. 



1 



Scene Five] NOTES 159 

71. engrossed, amassed and piled together. 

72. canker' d, evil or foul. 
strange-achieved, got by strange means. 

73-74. they have been thoughtful . . . sons, they have taken 
care to train and educate their sons. 

76. the virtuous sweets, honey which has valuable and medic- 
inal properties. 

80. his engrossments; his stores and the treasures he has 
amassed do no more for him than this. The king means that all 
the pains which he has spent in acquiring the crown turn only to 
bitterness in the end. 

82. hath determined me, has put an end to me, concluded my 
days. Cf. Sonnet xiii : 

*' So should that beauty which you hold in lease 
Find no determination." 

84. kindly tears, natural tears. 

93. Thy wish was father, Harry, etc. All this speech and the 
two following are very much extended by Shakespeare in order to 
make the reconciliation more touching. Holinshed gives the scene 
very briefly. The king caused the prince to come before him, " re- 
quiring of him what he meant so to misuse himselfe. The prince, 
with a good audacitie, answered: 'Sir, to mine and all mens 
judgements you seemed dead in this world ; wherefore I, as your 
next heire apparent, tooke that as mine owne, and not as yours.' 

• Well, faire sonne ' (said the king with a great sigh), ' what right 
I had to it, God knoweth.' 

* Well ' (said the prince), ' if you die king, I will have the garland 
and trust to keepe it with the sword against all mine enimies, as 
you have doone.' 

Then said the king, * I commit all to God, and remember you to 
doo well.' With that he turned himself in his bed, and shortHe 
after departed to God." 

104. seaVd up my expectation, confirmed my expectation, done 
exactly as I had anticipated; the metaphor is from sealing up a 
document. 

110. forbear me, spare me. 

115. drops of balm, the oil used in consecrating a king. Cf. 
Richard II, iii. 2. 54-55 : 

" Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
Can wash the balm off from an anointed king." 



160 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

116. compound me, mingle me. 

123. apes of idleness, those who waste their time in idle tricks. 
Perhaps there is an allusion to Spenser's Mother Hubbard's Tale, 
which tells how the ape and his friend the fox both go to court. 

124. neighbour confines, neighboring countries. 

129. double gild his treble guilt. Shakespeare is very fond^of 
puns of this kind. Cf . Macbeth, ii. 2. 55-57 : 

" If he do bleed, 
I '11 gild the faces of the grooms withal, 
For it must seem their guilt." 

132. the wild dog, hcense without any muzzle or restraint. 

134. sick with civil blows, weary and exhausted after the civil 
wars. 

141. dear and deep rebuke, piercing and cutting to the heart. 

146. affect, desire, wish for. 

163. in medicine potable. Gold was often used as an ingredient 
in medicine. Cf . Chaucer's Prologue : 

" Because that gold in phisik was a cordial. 
Therefore he lovede gold in special." 

169. a true inheritor, a genuine and loyal heir. 

189. opinion, reputation, confirmation, security. 

190. soil of the achievement, disgrace or stain of the achieve- 
ment ; he refers to the murder of Richard. 

193-194. to upbraid . . . assistances, to cast in my face the 
assistance they had given me in gaining the crown. 

196. supposed peace, unreal peace. Henry means that his 
kingdom was always in a state of suppressed revolt. 

196-197. all these bold fears . . . answered, I have coped with 
the difficulties of my reign; but I have encountered many perils 
in doing so. 

199. acting that argument, acting and re-acting the same sub- 
ject, i.e. civil war. 

200. what in me was purchased, what I acquired by my act. 
202. wear'st successively, in due order of succession. 

204. since griefs are green, since wounds and grievances are still 
fresh. 

212-213. look too near unto my state, inquire too closely into 
my title. 

215. with foreign quarrels. Henry V takes the advice, of course, 
in making war against France. The reader should note how char- 



Scene One] NOTES 161 

acteristic this scene is of Henry IV, who is politic to the very end and 
does not lose his statecraft or his cunning even in the hour of death. 

224. with more thanwith a common pain. The Prince is willing 
to take immense trouble in order to retain the crown. 

230-231. upon thy sight . . . period, even as I see you, all 
my earthly occupations are drawing to a close. 

236. Laud, praise. 

241. In that Jerusalem shall Harry die. Cf . Holinshed : " he 
willed to know if the chamber had anie particular name ; whereunto 
answer was made, that it was called Jerusalem. Then said the 
king : ' Lauds be given to the father of heaven, for now I know that 
I shall die here in this chamber ; according to the prophesie of me 
declared, that I should depart this life in Jerusalem.' " 

ACT V — SCENE 1 

1. by cock and pie, an oath disguised, the real form being " by 
God and pica " (the Catholic mass-book). 

14. precepts, summonses. Shallow was, of course, as Justice 
of the Peace, concerned with such matters. 

15-16. sow the headland with wheat. The headland was the 
strip of land left at the end of the furrows, the place where the plow 
turned. It was a custom in the Cotswolds to sow this with " red " 
or spring wheat. Shakespeare was obviously well acquainted with 
the local customs. 

19. the smith's note, the blacksmith's bill or account. 

21. cast, reckoned out, carefully examined. " 

23. link to the bucket, the chain which let the bucket down into 
the well. 

26. Hinckley, a market town near Coventry. 

27. A' shall answer it, he must pay for it. 

29. kickshaws, dainty dishes or trifles; an Anglicized form of 
guelques choses. Cf. Twelfth Night, i. 3. 122, where the word re- 
fers to accomplishments : " Art thou good at these kickshawses, 
knight?" 

34. a friend V the court . . . purse; a popular proverb. Fal- 
staff carefully employs his favor with the prince to work upon 
Shallow. 

36. will backbite, will readily slander a host if he does not treat 
them well. 

39. Well conceited, witty and clever. 

42. William Visor of Woncot. Woncot is the local pronuncia- 



162 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

tion of Woodmancote, a village in Gloucestershire. The family 
Visor or Vizard has been associated with it since the sixteenth 
century. A house on Stinchcombe Hill, known locally as " the 
hill," was also occupied by the family of Perkes. 

49. countenance, help or assistance. 

63-54. bear out a knave against an honest man, take the part of 
a knave against an honest man and enable him to get the better in a 
legal process. 

58. / say he shall have no wrong; an ambiguous way of saying 
that Davie shall wrest the law as he desires. 

65. welcome, my tall fellow; another piece of irony on the size 
of the tiny page. 

70. quantities, lengths or small portions. Cf. King John, v. 4. 
22-23: 

" Have I not hideous death within my view. 
Retaining but a quantity of life ? " 

73. semblable coherence, resemblance and agreement. 
78. flock together in consent, behave exactly alike. 
80-81. humour his men . . . master, flatter his men with the in- 
sinuation that they could do anything they liked with their master. 
84. wise bearing, wise manners or behavior. 
84-85. ignorant carriage, stupidity and folly. 

90. four terms, or two actions, four legal terms or two cases. 
FalstajBf is making fun of lawyers by insinuating that one case will 
always occupy at least two terms. 

91. without intervallums, without respite. 

92. sad, serious. 

SCENE 2 
6. calVd me, taken me. 
8. open to all injuries, exposed to all injuries. 
10-11. do arm myself . . . time, I am preparing myself to meet 
the changed conditions which I know are about to ensue. 

13. fantasy, imagination. Cf . Macbeth, i. 3. 139 : " My thought, 
whose murder yet is but fantastical." 

14. the heavy issue, the mourning children. 

16. Of him, the worst of these three gentlemen. Warwick 
wishes that Henry V had the disposition of even the least attractive 
of his three brothers. 

18. That must strike . . . sort, who must give way to despicable 
men such as Pistol and Bardolph. 

23. our argument, the subject of our thoughts. 



Scene Two] NOTES 163 

31. you stand in coldest expectation, your prospects are the worst 
of all. 

34. Which swims against your stream of quality, which is utterly 
opposed to your character. 

36. by the impartial conduct of my soul, by my own sense of 
justice. 

38. A ragged and forestalled remission. This is a very difficult 
phrase. It probably means a pardon asked before the king would 
have time to grant it and therefore received with contempt. 
Ragged may mean either that the pardon would be essentially im- 
perfect, or that it would be granted contemptuously as to a beggar ; 
forestaU'd may also mean a pardon that would in any case not be 
granted, being forestalled by the king's prejudices against the 
Chief -Justice. The whole phrase means, " Ask for a miserable par- 
don that I know will not be granted." 

48. Not Amurath. The Sultan, Amurath III, strangled his 
brothers upon his accession in 1596. 

52. / will deeply put the fashion on, I too will be deeply sorry. 

58. Let me hut hear . . . cares, grant me only your love and I 
will assume your cares for you. 

61. hy numher, each one separately. 

69. So great indignities, such great indignities. 

71. Was this easy? Was this a slight thing.? 

76. Whiles. This is the older form of the word ; the adverb is 
really the genitive of the noun and therefore this form is correct. 

79. presented, represented. 

84. garland, crown. 

87. to trip the course of law, to trip up or disturb the course of 
the law. 

90. in a second hody, in your delegate. 

92. propose a son, suppose a son. 

98. cold considerance, cold and calm consideration. 

99. state, kingly or royal position. 

102. you weigh this well, you judge rightly of this matter. 

103. the balance and the sword, the emblems of Justice, who is 
usually represented with them in allegorical paintings and carvings. 

109. my proper son, my own son. 
112. you did commit me, i.e. commit me to prison. 
115. remembrance, injunction or command. 
119. My voice shall sound . . . ear, I shall speak as you prompt 
me to speak. 
123-124. My father . . . affections, my father has taken my 



164 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

wildness with him into his grave, for with him lie buried all my 
former habits and inclinations. 

125. with his spirit sadly I survive, I live on seriously and in his 
spirit. 

127-128. to raze out Rotten opinion, to get rid of my evil repu- 
tation. 

132. with the state of floods, with the majesty of the sea itself. 

133. formal, grave and dignified. 

135. limbs of noble counsel, men capable of giving noble counsel. 

141-142. accite . . ,all our state, summon the whole Parliament. 

143. God consigning to my good intents, God confirming my 

good intentions, i.e. helping or aiding me. Cf. Henry F, i. 1. 25- 

29: 

" The breath no sooner left his father's body. 
But that his wildness, mortified in him, 
Seem'd to die too ; yea, at that very moment 
Consideration, like an angel, came 
And whipp'd the ofiPending Adam out of him." 

SCENE 3 

3. graffing, grafting. 

a dish of caraways, comfits made with caraway seeds. 

10. Spread, Davy, spread the cloth or cover. 

12. husband, husbandman ; a kind of steward. 

30. Prof ace. Spoken as a kind of health before drinking: 
" Much good may it do you." 

31-32. but you must bear; the heart's all, you must put up 
with my poor entertainment for the sake of my good will. Shallow 
speaks deprecatingly of his hospitality, but, in reality, he thinks 
very well of it. 

34. my little soldier; addressed to the page. 

41. a man of this mettle, a man as merry ; spoken ironically. 

It is notable that even Shakespeare's most absolute fools, like 
Silence and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, have one redeeming quality in 
their love of song ; this was, indeed, a most widespread Elizabethan 
trait. 

44. leather-coats, golden russets ; a kind of apple. 

49. lemon, paramour. 

53. the sweet o' the night, the best time of the night, i.e. that for 
drinking. 

57. I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom, I will drink to the bot- 
tom, even if it is a mile. 



Scene Three] NOTES 165 

59-60. beshrew thy heart, mischief upon thy heart. 

62. cavaleros, knights or soldiers. It was the Itahan term of 
compliment, used half ironically, half seriously. Cf. " Cavalery 
Cobweb " in A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

65. An I might see you there, Davy. Bardolph is thinking 
joyfully how he would fleece him. 

66-67. crack a quart together, venture on a quart of wine to- 
gether. 

68. a pottle-pot, holding two quarts. 

76. done me right, pledged me in a health. 

78. dub me knight. Malone's note is : " It was the custom of 
the good fellows of Shakespeare's days to drink a very large draught 
of wine ... on their knees, to the health of their mistress. He who 
performed this exploit was dubb'd a knight for the evening." 

79. Samingo; a mistake for San Domingo, the patron saint of 
wine-bibbers. 

93-94. but Goodman Puff, except for Goodman Puff. " Good- 
man " is the same as " gaffer." Bar son may be either Barston or 
Barton, both villages in Warwickshire. 

96. Puff in thy teeth. Pistol misunderstands Silence and, taking 
his " Puff " for a term of contempt, flings it back in his face. 

103. foutre; a term of contempt. 

105. base Assyrian; often used as a term of abuse and equivalent 
to " heathen." In despair of getting at Pistol's news in any other 
way, Talstaff speaks in the same strain to humor him. 

106. King Cophetua; a reference to the old ballad of this name. 
108. the Helicons. Pistol evidently mistakes Mount Helicon 

for the name of some nation or tribe. 

111. / know not your breeding, I do not know who you are. 

119. Besonian, a term of abuse which really means a beggar or 
a needy person ; Italian bisogno. 

124. fig me; a " fig " or " fico " was an insulting gesture made 
with the fingers. 

125. bragging Spaniard. The Elizabethans always represented 
the Spanish nation as particularly proud and boastful. So Spenser 
in his Faerie Queene, I, vii, represents Philip II as Orgoglio, the 
monster of pride and boastfulness. 

135. Carry Master Silence to bed. This is an amusing touch ; 
Silence, like Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, cannot carry 
liquor and is always the first of the party to become drunk. 

137. / am fortune's steward. Falstaff has all good^ortune at 
his disposal. 



166 KING HENRY THE FOURTH [Act Five 

142-143. Let us take any man's horses. Cruel as Henry's 
repudiation is, phrases like this almost seem to justify him. But 
see Introduction, p. xxii. ^ • *! 

146. Let vultures vile seize on his lungs. Pistol is probably 
referring to the story of Prometheus, but, as usual, he blunders. 

147. " Where is the life that late I led? " A fragment of an old 
ballad. 

SCENE 4 

5-6. whipping-cheer, sufficient whipping. 

8. nut-hook, catchpole ; a term of abuse for a bailiff. 

20-21. thin man in a censer, as thin and meagre as a man em- 
bossed upon a censer, a metal pan for burning perfumes and so 
fumigating rooms. 

21. swinged, beaten. 

22. blue-bottle rogue; an allusion to the beadle's blue uniform. 
24. half-kirtles, short gowns; the kirtle was a jacket with a 

petticoat attached. 

25-26. she knight-errant; alluding to Doll's warlike disposition; 
perhaps also alluding to her roving propensities. 

28. of sufferance comes ease, after suffering comes rehef . 

33. atomy; a mistake for anatomy or skeleton. 

SCENE 5 

« 

4. dispatch, hasten. 

7. leer, smile. 

8. countenance, approval or welcome. 

14. infer the zeal, show or reveal the zeal. 

23. to shift me, to change my linen. 

30-31. " obsque hoc nihil est, " Pistol's mistake for absque. 
The meaning of the proverb is, " Ever the same, for without this 
there is nothing." 

31. *t is all in every part; Pistol's mistake for the proverb, " All 
in all, and all in every part." 

33. inflame thy noble liver; the liver was supposed to be the seat 
of courage and anger. 

36. contagious prison. Pistol probably uses the term " con- 
tagious " without any very exact appreciation of its meaning ; but, 
as a matter of fact, prisons were " contagious " in the strict sense of 
the term, and prisoners often fell victims to their poison. So in 
Measure for Measure a prisoner dies of the prison fever. 

39. Rouse up revenge; probably an allusion to the Spanish 



Scene Five] NOTES 167 

Tragedy; the Ghost's cry of "Awake Revenge" is four times 
repeated. 

45-46. imp of fame, scion of fame; imj) first meant the shoot 
used in grafting. 

54. So surfeit-swelVd, so swollen with excess of eating and 
drinking. 

56. hence, henceforward, for the future. 

66. The tutor and the feeder of my riots, one who instructed and 
encouraged me in my riotous living. 

70. competence of life, an income sufficient to keep you from 
want. 

73. according to your strengths and qualities, according to your 
power of amendment. 

84. fear not your advancements, have no fear for your advance- 
ment. 

91. a colour, a make-believe, a pretext. 

94. Fear no colours; usually employed in the sense of " fear no 
enemy," do not dread his standards. 

102. Si fortuna . . . contenta; apparently Pistol's favorite 
motto; he had quoted it before (ii. 4. 195), but in a form equally 
wrong. 
'^106. conversations, general behavior. 

112. civil swords, swords lately exercised in civil war. 

EPILOGUE 

13. / break, I become bankrupt. 

15-16. hate me some, be merciful toward me; do not ask too 
much. 

21. will make, will do or perform. 

29. continue the story with Sir John in it. This promise is not 
kept literally. Falstaff himself plays no part in Henry V; we are 
only told of his illness and then of his death. 

31-32. Falstaff shall die of a sweat. As a matter of fact, his end 
is much more pathetic ; we are told that the king's repudiation has 
broken his heart and that he dies of grief. 

33. Oldcastle died a martyr. The Epilogue was probably 
appended specially in order to make this retractation. 



GLOSSARY 



abated (i. 1. 117), lowered, sub- 
dued, cast down. O. F. abatre. 

abroach (iv. 2. 14), afoot, astir. 
Set abroach = start flowing. 
O. F. broche, spit or spigot. 

accites (ii. 2. 64), induces, urges. 

accommodated (iii. 2. 72, 78), 
supplied. 

affect (iv. 5. 145), desire. Lat. 
affectare, to apply oneself to. 

affections (v. 2. 124), wild in- 
clinations. 

agate (i. 2. 19), figure cut in an 
agate ; hence, a person of 
very diminutive size. 

anatomize (Induction, 21), cut 
up, dissect, and so explain in 
full. Fr. anatomiser, to dis- 
sect. 

Ancient (ii. 4. 74), Ensign. O. F. 
ancien. 

angel (i. 2. 187), the coin so 
called. 

anon (ii. 4. 306), at once, im- 
mediately. O. E. on an, in 
one moment. 

apple-john (ii. 4. 21), a variety 
of apple kept for winter use, 
said to be in perfection when 
shrivelled or withered. The 
name is probably derived from 
the fact that the apple ripened 
about St. John's Day. 

apprehensive (iv. 3. 107), ready 
to understand. Lat. appre- 
hendere, to lay hold of, to 
seize. 

approve (i. 2. 214), prove, put 
to the test. 

argument (v. 2. 23), subject of 
discourse. O. F. arguer. 

arrant (v. 1. 35), knavish, mis- 
chievous, bad. A. S. eargian, 
to be a coward. 



assemblance (iii. 2. 277), appear- 
ance, look, semblance. 

assurance (i. 2. 36), security. 

atomy (v. 4. 33), anatomy, 
skeleton. Fr. anatomie, Gr. 
avarofji-n, a dissection ; carcass 
cut up. Cf. anatomize. 

attached (ii. 2. 3), arrested, 
taken possession of. O. F. 
attacher, to attack, fasten. 
See also iv. 2. 109. 

avaunt (i. 2. 103), away, begone. 
Fr. en avant. 

balm (iv. 5. 115), the oil used in 
anointing the king for his 
coronation. O. F. baume, Lat. 
balsamum. 

bastardly (ii. 1. 55), a confusion 
of bastard and dastardly. 

bate (ii. 4. 271), quarrelling, dis- 
pute, strife. 

bate (Epilogue, 15), be merci- 
ful. 

battle (iii. 2. 165; iv. 1. 154), 
division of an army. 

bear-herd (i. 2. 192), keeper of a 
tame bear. 

beaver (iv. 1. 120), movable 
front piece of the helmet. 
Fr. bdviere. 

beetle (i. 2^ 255), a rammer. 
A. S. bytel, mallet, from 
beatan, to beat. 

big (Induction, 13), pregnant, 
fruitful of events. 

biggen (iv. 5. 27), nightcap. 

bloody (iv. 1. 34), violent, fierce. 

blubbered (ii. 4. 421), sobbing or 
crying ; the early meaning of 
the word is " swollen." 

bona-robas (iii. 2. 26, 217), hand- 
some women ; women of bad 
character ; courtesans. 



168 



GLOSSARY 



169 



boot, to (iii. 1. 29), in addition, 

into the bargain. O. E. hot, 

help, redress. 
bragging (v. 3. 125), boasting. 

Fr. hragard, gay gallant. 
brawl (i. 3. 70), quarrel, con- 
flict. 
brawn (i. 1. 19), a mass of 

muscles; fat person. O. F. 

hraon, fleshy part, muscle; 

boar or swine fattened for the 

table. 
break (Epilogue, 13), become 

bankrupt. 
bruited (i. 1. 114), noised abroad. 

Fr. hruit, report, rumor. 
buckle (i. 1. 141), bend or give 

way. Fr. houcle. 
buckler (i. 2. s. d.), shield. Fr. 

houclier, a shield with a boss. 
bung (ii. 4. 138), a plug for a 

hole in a cask ; a pick-pocket. 
busses (ii. 4. 291), kisses. Gael. 

hus, lip, mouth. 

caliver (iii. 2. 289), a light mus- 
ket; a corruption of caliber, 

the diameter of a piece of 

ordnance. 
calm (ii. 4. 40), a mistake for 

qualm. A. S. cwealm, death, 

pestilence. 
canaries (ii. 4. 29), wine made 

in the Canary Islands. 
cankers (ii. 2. 102), worms in 

roses ; something that corrodes. 

Lat. cancer, crab, ulcer. 
capable (i. 1. 172), susceptible. 
carat (iv. 5. 162), a very light 

weight, the measure for gold. 

Fr. carat. 
cast (i. 1. 166), forecast, foretold. 

(v. 1. 21), reckoned out. 
chanced (i. 1. 87), happened, 

came to pass. O. F. cheance, 

Lat. cadentia, falling. 
channel (ii. 1. 52), gutter. O. F. 

chanel, canal. 
chapt (iii. 2. 294), chapped, worn, 

wrinkled. 
charge (i. 2. 72), company of 

soldiers. 
cheater (ii. 4. 106), sharper. 
checked (i. 2. 220), scolded; a 

sense derived from the more 



usual one of " hinder," " pre- 
vent." The word is taken 
from the game of chess. 

chops (ii. 4. 235), jaws. 

civil (iv. 1. 42), orderly, law- 
abiding. 

clout (iii. 2. 51), pin in the centre 
of a target. 

cock and pie (v. 1. 1), a trivial 
oath, originally meaning " by 
God and pica." 

cold (iv. 1. 9), unhappy, unfor- 
tunate, as in the phrase " cold 
comfort." 

colour (i. 2. 275), reasonable 
excuse. 

conceited (v. 1. 39), planned, 
considered. O. F. conceipt. 

condition (iv. 3. 90), rank or 
position. 

confines (iv. 5. 124), kingdoms 
bordering on others. 

confirmation (iv. 5. 189), surety. 

confirmities (ii. 4. 64), a blunder 
for infirmities. 

conger (ii. 4, 58), sea eel; used 
as a term of abuse. 

conjoins (iv. 5. 64), joins or 
unites with. 

consist (iv. 1. 187), insist. 

construe (iv. 1. 104), interpret. 
Lat. construere, to heap to- 
gether, to build, to construe. 

contention (i. 1. 9), civil war. 

corpse (i. 1. 192), bodies (sin- 
gular for plural). O. F. corps, 
body. 

countenance (v. 1. 49), support. 
O. F. contenance, cheer, visage. 

counter (i. 2. 102), against the 
scent, contrary. Fr. contra, 
Lat. contra, against. 

cover (ii. 4. 11), set the cloth. 

crack (iii. 2. 34) , a lively lad. 

crafty-sick (Induction, 37), sick 
only in pretence. 

crib (iii. 1. 9), manger, stall, 
cradle ; so, a confined and 
narrow bed. A. S. crih. 

crosses (i. 2. 253) , coins so called 
because of the cross upon 
them. 

crudy (iv. 3. 106), raw, crude. 
Lat. crudus, raw. 

cuttle (ii. 4. 139), cut-purse. 



170 



GLOSSARY 



dace (iii. 2. 356), a small river- 
fish. 

deep (iv. 5. 141), piercing. 

defensible (ii. 3. 38), capable of 
offering defence. 

degrees (i. 2. 259), degrees of 
life, — youth and age. 

delectable (iv. 3. 108), delight- 
ful. Fr. delectable, Lat. de- 
lectabilis. 

derived (i. 1. 23), obtained, as 
from a source or origin. Fr. 
deriver, Lat. derivare, to lead 
or draw off water. 

descension (ii. 2. 193), decline. 

determined (iv. 5. 82), put an 
end to. O. F. determiner, to 
determine, conclude. 

divination (i. 1. 88), a divining, 
guess for the future. O. F. 
devin, soothsayer ; Lat. divi- 
nus, soothsayer or prophet. 

dole (i. 1. 169), a pOTtion or 
giving out. A. S. dael. 

dull (iv. 5. 2), drowsy, sleep- 
inducing. 

easy (v. 2. 71), slight, unim- 
portant. 

element (iv. 3. 58), air. 

encounter' d (iv. 2. 1), met. 

endear'd (ii. 3. 11), deeply 
pledged. 

engraffed to (ii. 2. 67), attached 
to, grafted on. O. F. graffe, 
a style for writing ; Fr. greffe, 
a shoot. 

engross'd (iv. 5. 71), amassed. 
Fr. en gros, in large. 

engrossments (iv. 5. 80), ac- 
quisitions. 

exclamation (ii. 1. 88), outcry, 
protest. 

exion (ii. 1. 32), the Hostess's 
perversion of action. 

extreme (iv. 3. 116), outer, 
uttermost. Fr. extreme, Lat. 
extrem,us. 

face-royal (i. 2. 26), face on a 

coin, 
familiars (ii. 2. 144), people on 

intimate terms. 
fantasy (v. 2. 13), imagination. 

O. F. fantasie, Gr. (j>avTa<ria. 



fearful (Induction, 12), timid; 

that which feels fear, not only 

that which inspires it. 
fertile (iv. 3. 131), fertilizing, 

fruitful. Lat. fertilis. 
fig (v. 3. 124), an insulting gesture 

made with the fingers. Fr. 

figue, Lat. ficus. 
file (i. 3. 10), list. O. F. file, 

file or row. 
fit (i. 1. 142), attack of fever. 
flaws (iv. 4. 35), thin flakes of 

ice. Scand. flaw, a flake. 
flesh' d (i. 1. 149), fed with flesh, 

so made proud. 
foin (ii. 1. 17), thrust. O. F. 

fouine, an eel spear. 
foolish-compounded (i. 2. 8), 

compounded with folly; fool- 
ish in nature. 
fond (i. 3. 91), foolish. 
forgetive (iv. 3. 107), inventive, 

easily forging or making. O. F. 

forge, Lat. fabrica, workshop. 
formal (v. 2. 133), grave, dig- 
nified. 
forspent (i. 1. 37), wearied. 

A. S. for, used in an intensive 

sense ; cf . forget, forgive. 
forward (i. 1. 173), courageous, 

active. 
foundered (iv. 3. 39), disabled 

by heavy riding. O. F. 

fondrer, to fall in. 
f outre (v. 3. 103), a term of 

contempt. 
frame (iv. 1. 180), bring about. 

O. E. fremman, to do or make. 
frank (ii. 2. 160), sty. O. F. 

franke, a place to feed hogs in. 
fubbed off (ii. 1. 34), put off with 

idle excuses. 
fustian (ii. 4. 203), a kind of 

coarse cloth ; hence, coarse or 

common. O. F. fustaine. 

gainsaid (i. 1. 92), spoken 

against. O. E. gegn, against. 
gall (i. 2. 167), irritate, rub a 

sore place. O. F. galle, a sore ; 

Lat. callus, hard skin. 
gauntlet (i. 1. 146), an iron 

glove. Fr. gantelet, dim. of 

gant, glove. 
genius (iii. 2. 337), spirit. 



GLOSSARY 



171 



gibbets (iii. 2. 282), gibbets, 
slings. 

giddy (iv. 5. 214), frivolous, 
restless. 

gird (i. 2. 7), mock, gibe, strike. 

good-year (ii. 4. 64), probably 
from Fr. goujere, a disease. 

graffing (v. 3. 3), grafting. Cf. 
engrafifed. 

griefs (iv. 1. 69), grievances. 
O. F. gref, grief. 

groin (ii. 4. 227), fork of the 
body. O. F. grine. Same 
word as grain, the fork of the 
branches of a tree. 

gross (iv. 4. 73), coarse, licen- 
tious. 

half-kirtles (v. 4. 24), short 
gowns. 

halloing (i. 2. 213), shouting, 
singing loudly. 

halt (i. 2. 275), go lame. O. E. 
healtian. 

haunch (iv. 4. 92), latter end. 
Fr. hanche, the haunch or 
hip. 

heaviness (iv. 2. 82), sadness, 
grief. 

hilding (i. 1. 57), contemptible, 
mean, poor fellow. 

hulk (i. 1. 19), clumsy mass, big 
unwieldy person. O. F. hulke, 
flat-bottomed transport ship. 
See also ii. 4. 70. 

humorous (iv. 4. 34), wayward, 
capricious. O. F. humor, 
moisture ; the excess or de- 
ficiency of certain " humours " 
in the body was supposed to 
cause differences in tempera- 
ment. 

husbandry (iii. 2. 124), household 
work, appropriate for a man. 
A. S. husbonda, master of the 
house. 

imbrue (ii. 4. 210), draw blood. 

imp (v. 4. 46), scion. M. E. imp, 
a graft on a tree. 

incensed (i. 3. 14), kindled, in- 
flamed. 

incertain (i. 3. 24), uncertain. 

infinitive (ii. 1. 26), infinite, 
unlimited. 



insinew'd (iv. 1. 172), allied, 
connected with. 

intelligencer (iv. 2. 20), one who 
gives intelligence ; interpreter, 
teacher. 

intended (iv. 1. 166), implied. 

intervallums (v. 1. 91), intervals. 
O. F. intervalle, an interval. 

investments (iv. 1. 45), vest- 
ments, robes. 

jade (i. 1. 45), horse of poor 

quality. 
jerkins (ii. 2. 189; ii. 4. 18), 

jackets, short coats. 
Jordan (ii. 4. 37), pot. 
Juvenal (i. 2. 22), young person. 

ken (iv. 1. 151), short distance. 
kickshaws (v. 1. 29), trifles. 
Cf. Fr. quelque chose. 

lavishly (iv. 2. 57), loosely, with- 
out due warrant. 

lean (i. 1. 164), depend on. 

liking (ii, 1. 97), comparing. 

lingers (i. 2. 265). Used as a 
transitive verb : to extend. 
A. S. lengan, to prolong, put 
off. 

lusty (ii. 1. 4), vigbrous, strong, 
full of life. O. E. lust, pleas- 
ure. 

malt-worms (ii. 4. 361), topers, 
many (i. 3. 91), multitude. 

O. E. manig, a multitude. 
man-queller (ii. 1. 58), man- 
killer. O. E. cwellan, to kill. 
mask (i. 1. 66), disguise. Fr. 

masque, an entertainment ; 

disguise used in such an 

entertainment. 
monstrous (iv. 2. 34), unusual, 

extraordinary. 
mure (iv. 4. 119), wall. Fr. 

mural, pertaining to a wall; 

Lat. murus, wall. 
muse (iv. 1. 167), wonder, am 

surprised. 

neif (ii. 4. 200), fist. Scand. 

hnefi, fist. 
nice (i. 1. 145), foolish. O. F. 

nice, slothful, simple ; Lat. 



1*72 



GLOSSARY 



nescius, ignorant, (iv. 1. 191), 

trivial, fantastic. 
noble (ii. 1. 167), the coin so 

called, 6s. 8d. in value. 
nut-hook (v. 4. 8), catchpole; 

sheriff's officer. 

obduracy (ii. 2. 50), hardness of 
heart. Lat. ohduratus, p. p. 
of obdurare, to render hard. 

observance (iv. 3. 16), reverence. 
Fr. observance, Lat. observantia. 

observed (iv. 4. 30), courted. 
O. F. observer, to observe ; 
Lat. observare, to take notice 
of. 

offer (iv. 1. 219), menace. 

old Utis (ii. 4. 21-22), rare fun. 
O. F. huitaves, Lat. octavus, 
the time between a festival 
and the eighth day after it. 

omit (iv. 4. 27),^ neglect. Lat. 
omittere, to omit, let go. 

opposite (iv. 1. 16), opponent, 
enemy. 

original (i. 2. 131), origin, source, 
commencement. Fr. origine, 
Lat. origo > oriri, to rise. 

ostentation (ii. 2. 54), manifesta- 
tion. 

ouches (ii. 4. 53), ornaments, 
gems. The true meaning is 
the socket of a gem, and the 
older form is nouch. O. F. 
nouche, a buckle, clasp, or 
bracelet. 

ousel (iii. 2. 9) , a kind of thrush. 

outbreathed (i. 1. 108), tired out. 

over-rode (i. 1. 30), overtook. 

overween (iv. 1. 149), to be too 
proud. O. E. wenan, to im- 
agine, hope, or think. 

owed (i. 2. 5), owned, possessed. 
O. E. dgan, to own. 

pallet (iii. 1. 10), a kind of 

mattress or couch. Fr. paillet, 

a heap of straw. 
pantler (ii. 4. 258), servant in 

charge of the pantry. 
parcel-gilt (ii. 1. 94), partly gilt. 

Fr. parcelle, a particle or piece. 
partial (iii. 1. 26), unjust, unfair. 
particular (iv. 3. 52), special. 



persistency (ii. 2. 50), stubborn- 
ness. Fr. persister, to persist. 
peruse (iv. 2. 94), consider, look 

over. 
potion (i. 1. 197), dose of liquid 

medicine. Lat. potio^potare, 

to drink, 
powers (i. 3. 32), forces, armed 

bands. 
precepts (v. 1. 14), summonses. 

O. F. precepte, a precept. 
pregnancy (i. 2. 192), mental 

agility, quickness of wit. 
presurmise (i. 1. 168), something 

guessed beforehand. 
pricked (iii. 2. 122), marked for 

service. 
Proface (v. 3. 30), a common 

formula in drinking, meaning 

" good health." 
proper (v. 2. 109), own. 
proper (of hands) (ii. 2. 72), 

agile and athletic. 
propose (v. 2. 92), suppose, 

imagine. 
puissance (i. 3. 9), power. Fr. 

puissant, powerful. 
purchased (iv. 5. 200), acquired. 

quality (iv. 1. 11), rank; (v. 2. 

34), temperament. Fr. 

qualite. 
quean (ii. 1. 51), woman of 

common character. O. E. 

cwm, woman. 
queasiness (i. 1. 196), sickness. 

Scand. kveis, sickness after a 

debauch. 
quittance (i. 1. 108), reply. 

O. F. quite, Lat. quietus, dis- 
charged, free. 
quiver (iii. 2. 301), nimble, 

active. 
quoif (i. 1. 147), cap for the 

head. O. F. coiffe, the sick 

man's nightcap. 

racket (ii. 2. 23), a play upon 
the double sense: "tennis- 
racket " and " noise and con- 
fusion." 

ragged (Induction, 35)," rugged, 
rough. 

ragged'st (i. 1. 149), roughest. 



GLOSSARY 



173 



rampallion (ii. 1. 65), a woman 
of low character. 

rank (iii. 1, 39), coarse in growth, 
strong. 

rate (iii. 1. 68), chide, scold. 
Sw. rata, to blame. 

rate (iv. 1. 22), count or num- 
ber. O. F. rate, price, value; 
Lat. ratum. 

recordation (ii. 3. 61), in memory 
of. O. F. recorder, to repeat 
or report. 

remission (v. 2. 38), pardon. 

resolved (iv. 1. 213), determined. 

rigol (iv. 5. 36), circle. 

roll (iii. 2. 106), muster-roll; 
list of the men taken into 
service. 

rood (iii. 2. 3), cross. O. E. 
rod, a gallows, a rod or pole, 

roundly (iii. 2. 21), offhand, with- 
out ceremony. ' 

routs (iv. 1. 33), bands or gangs. 
Fr. route, a company or multi- 
tude of men. 

rowel-head (i. 1. 46), the little 
wheel with sharp points at 
the end of a spur. Fr. rouelle, 
a little flat ring. 

sack (i. 2. 222), name of an old 
Spanish wine ; also called seek 
or Sherris-sack, sack from 
Xeres. 

sadly (v. 2. 125), seriously. 

Samingo (v. 3. 79), probably a 
mistake for San Domingo, 
patron saint of topers. 

satisfy (ii. 1. 143), pay. 

scurvy (ii. 4. 132), afflicted with 
scurf; mean and poor. 

seal'd (iv. 5. 104), confirmed. 

sect (ii. 4. 41), sex. 

shallowly (iv. 2. 118), foolishly, 
without reflection. 

shove-groat shilling (ii. 4. 206- 
207), a shilling used in the 
game of shove-groat, played 
on a board with marked spaces. 

slops (i. 2. 34), loose breeches. 
A. S. slop, frock. 

sneap (ii. 1. 133), rebuke; a 
form of snub. Icel. snubba, 
chide. The original meaning 
is " to snip off ends," 



sortance (iv. 1. 11), consort or 
be appropriate to. 

spare (iii. 2. 288), thin, slender. 
O. E. spaer. 

staves (iv. 1. 120), the staffs or 
shafts of spears. 

stiff-borne (i. 1. 177), hard 
fought. 

stomach (i. 1. 129), pride; de- 
rived from stomach in the 
physical sense. Gr. o-rojaaxo? 
stomach, from o-Toju-a, a mouth 
or entrance, (iv. 4. 105), 
appetite. 

stop (Induction, 17), note of 
music; derived from the 
stopping and unstopping of 
the holes in a flute. 

strained (i. 1. 161), overstrained, 
excessive. 

strengths (v. 5. 73), powers. 

suborn' d (iv. 1. 90), instigated 
secretly to commit perjury. 
Fr. suborner, to suborn. 

success (iv. 5. 202), succession. 

sufferance (v. 4. 28), suffering. 
Fr. souffrir. 

suggestion (iv. 4. 45), provoca- 
tion, in the sense of provoca- 
tion to discord. 

sullen (i. 1. 102), gloomy. O. F. 
solain, solitary. 

Surecard (iii. 2. 95), lit., boon 
companion ; a slang term. 

suspire (iv. 5. 33), breathe. 

swinge-bucklers (iii. 2. 24), 
swash-bucklers. 

tables (ii. 4. 289), notebooks; 
(iv. 1. 201), records. 

take up (i. 3. 73), engage. 

tall (iii. 2. 67), valiant. 

tap for tap (ii. 1. 206), tit for 
tat. 

tester (iii. 2. 296), sixpence; so 
called from the head of the 
sovereign on the coin. O. F. 
teste, a head. 

thick (ii. 3. 24), indistinctly. 

tidy (ii. 4. 250), in prime condi- 
tion, seasonable. O. E. tld, 
time or hour. 

tiring (Induction, 37), hastening. 

toys (ii. 4. 183), idle whims. 

trade (i. 1. 174), frequency. 



174 



GLOSSARY 



translate (iv. 1. 47), transform. 

travel-tainted (iv, 3. 40), stained 
with travel. 

traverse (iii. 2. 291), march. 

Trigon (ii. 4. 288), triplicity; a 
name for three signs of the 
Zodiac taken together. 

unseason'd (iii. 1. 105), un- 
seasonable, untimely. 

up-swarmed (iv. 2. 30), caused 
them to swarm or throng. 

vail (i. 1. 129), lower. Vail his 
stomach = lower his pride. 
Fr. avaler, to fall down. Cf. 
avalanche. 

valuation (iv. 1. 189), estima- 
tion. 

vaward (i. 2. 199), vanguard, an 
abbreviated form of avant- 
guard, from Fr. avant-garde. 

vice (ii. 1. 24), clutches, grasp. 
Fr. vis, the vice or spindle of a 
press. 

Vice's dagger (iii. 2. 343), thin 
person, so called from the 
" lath " used as a dagger by 
the one impersonating " Vice." 



wags (i. 2. 200), persons full of 
fun. 

wanton (i. 1. 146), luxurious, 
lacking in sternness. 

warder (iv. 1. 125), staff of com- 
mand. 

wassail-candle (i. 2. 179), the 
large candle used at a banquet 
or festival. O. E. wees hal, a 
salutation. 

watch-case (iii. 1. 17), sentry-box. 

water- work (ii. 1. 158), water 
colors to ornament the wall ; 
probably a rough kind of dis- 
temper. 

welkin (ii. 4. 182), sky, clouds; 
the region of clouds. O. E. 
wolcnu, clouds. 

wen (ii. 2. 115), a fleshy tumor. 
O. E. wenn. 

wench (ii. 2. 152), girl. 

whipping-cheer (v. 4. 5-6), good 
flogging. 

womb (iv. 3. 25), belly. A. S. 
wamb, belly. 

workings (iv. 2. 22), workings of 
the brain; cogitations. 

yeoman (ii. 1. 4), servant. 



INDEX OF WORDS 



(The references are to the Notes ad he. Other words will be 
found in the Glossary.) 



aggravate, ii. 4. 175. 
angel, i. 2. 187; ii. 4. 362. 
anthem, i. 2. 213. 

band, i. 2. 37. 
bawl, ii. 2. 27. 
beshrew, v. 3. 59-60. 
bestow, ii. 2. 186-187. 
bestride, i. 1. 207. 
bitter, ii. 4. 184-185. 

Cannibals, ii. 4. 180. 
caper, i. 2. 216. 
cavaleros, v. 3. 62. 
coherence, v. 1. 73. 
commodity, i. 2. 277-278. 
conceive, ii. 2. 123-124. 
considerance, v. 2. 98. 
consigning, v. 2. 143. 

drollery, ii. i. 156. 

Ephesians, ii. 2. 164. 

faitors, ii. 4. 173. 
flapdragons, ii. 4, 267. 

garland, v. 2. 84. 
giant, i. 2. 1. 
glutton, i. 2. 39. 

heels, i. 2. 141. 
hemp-seed, ii. 1. 64. 
his, ii. 4. 308. 
honey-seed, ii. 1. 58. 
honey-suckle, ii. 1. 5Q. 
hurly, iii. 1. 25. 



ill-sorted, ii. 4. 162. 
infer, v. 5. 14. 
instance, i. 1. 56. 

Japhet, ii. 2. 128. 

kirtle, ii. 4. 297. 

leather-coats, v. 3. 44. 
lemon, v. 3. 49. 
level, ii. 1. 124. 
lightness, i. 2. 53. 
lined, i. 3. 27. 
lisping, ii. 4. 289. 
liver, i. 2. 198. 

malmsey-nose, ii. 1. 42. 
mandrake, i. 2. 17. 
mare, ii. 1. 46, 83. 
martlemas, ii. 2. 110. 
mask, i. 1. 66. 
model, i. 3. 42. 

Neptune, iii. 1. 49-51. 
noise, ii. 4. 13. 

o'er-posting, i. 2. 171. 
office, i. 3. 47. 
opinion, iv. 5. 189. 

parcels, iv. 2. 36. 

peascod-time, ii. 4. 413. 

pike, iii. 2. 356. 

Pluto, ii. 4. 169. 

point, i. 1.53; ii. 4. 142, 198. 

Pomfret, i. 1. 205. 

pottle-pot, ii. 2.83; v. 3. 68. 

quoit, ii. 4. 206. 
175 



176 



INDEX OF WORDS 



rescue, ii. 1. 62. 

respect,!. 1. 184; i. 2. 146. 

scab, iii. 2. 296. 
sea-coal, ii. 1. 95. 
semblable, v. 1. 73. 
shadows, iii. 2. 145-146. 
sickly, i. 1. 147. 
single, i. 2. 207. 
smooth-pates, i. 2. 43. 
suspicion, i. 1. 84. 



temperality, ii. 4. 25. 
thewes, iii. 2. 276. 
Trigon, ii. 4. 288. 

Utis, ii. 4. 22. 
utmost, i. 3. 65. 

winking, i. 3. 33. 
yea-forsooth, i. 2. 41. 



GENERAL INDEX 



Addison, ii. 1. 30. 

Althaea, ii. 2. 93. 

Amurath, v. 2. 48. 

Arthur's Show, ii. 4. 36; iii. 2. 

299-300. 
astrology, ii. 4. 288. 

ballads, iv. 3. 52; v. 3. 106. 
Bartholomew Fair, ii. 4. 250-251. 
Boleyn, Anne, ii. 4. 211. 
Bordeaux, ii. 4. 69. 

Calipolis, ii. 4. 193. 

Chaucer, ii. 1. 3, 109, 145; ii. 4. 

53, 69 ; iii. 2. 33. 
Cotswold, iii. 2. 23-24; v. 1. 

15-16. 

Devil's book, ii. 2. 49. 
Dives and Lazarus, i. 2. 39. 
Dolphin-chamber, ii. 1. 94-95. 

Ephesus, ii. 2. 164. 

Fates, The Three, ii. 4. 213. 

Gower, ii. 1. 145. 

Hannibal, ii. 4. 180. 

Harvey, Gabriel, ii. 1. 64. 

Hecuba, ii. 2. 93. 

Hiren, ii. 4. 173. 

Holinshed, Induction, intro., 37; 

i. 1. 128; i. 3. 71, 72; iii. 1. 

103; iv. 2. 63, 122; iv. 3. 

intro.; iv. 4. 40, 125; iv. 5. 

43, 93, 241. 
Holy Land, iii. 1. 108. 

Jerusalem, iv. 5. 241. 
Jonson, Ben, i. 2. 17; ii. 1. intro., 
145, 156; ii. 4. 250-251. 



Lethe, ii. 4. 169-170. 
Lidgate, ii. 1. 145. 
Lollards, i. 2. 213. 
Lubber's head, ii. 1. 30. 
Lucy, iii. 2. 356. 
Lumbert Street, ii. 1. 31. 

Malone, v. 3. 78. 
Marlowe, ii. 4. 178, 189-190, 362. 
Martinmas, ii. 2. 110. 
Moralities, ii. 4. 362; iii. 2. 343. 
Mount Helicon, v. 3. 108. 
Mystery plays, i. 1. 66. 

Nashe, ii. 1. 64. 

Oldcastle, i. 1. 19; ii. 2. 145- 

146; iii. 2. 28-29; Epil., 33. 

Overbury, Sir Thomas, iii. 2. 356. 

"painted cloths," i. 2. 39; ii. 1. 

156 157. 
Peele,'ii. 4! 173, 193. 
Prodigal Son, ii. 1. 157. 
proverbs, ii. 4. 195; v. 1. 34; 

V. 5. 30-31, 31. 
Puritans, i. 2. 213. 

St. Hubert, ii. 1. 157. 
San Domingo, v. 3. 79. 
Scogan, iii. 2. 33. 
shove-groat, ii. 4. 206-207. 
Sir Lancelot du Lake, ii. 4. 36. 
Spanish Tragedy, v. 5. 39. 
Spenser's Faerie Queen, Indue, 

35; ii. 2. 110; iv. 3. 125; 

V. 3. 125. 

Tamburlaine, ii. 4. 178, 189-190. 
tennis, ii. 2. 21. 
textual note, i. 3. 37. 
Turnbull Street, iii. 2. 329. 
Tyrwhitt, iv. 3. 126. 



177 



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